Chris Hibbard, Painter and Print Maker

I ceased painting in 1975 for a variety of reasons.

Art school had developed my technical ability but also ‘taught’ me to question the activity I was engaged in. Too often, working on a painting led to the question “Why?” so it seemed easier to stop. Also, I was now teaching full-time and had a young family.

I taught for 27 years in special education, which, while fulfilling, was very demanding. During that time, I continued to draw, often attending a life class, and always taking a sketchbook when out walking. The immediacy of the activity overrode the question “Why?”.

From an early age, I drew (as a child, it was my way of coming to terms with the world around me). I was often fascinated and excited by images in comics, football magazines, and films. When I returned home from the cinema, I would usually commence drawing. (Some of my earliest memories are of visits to the cinema…)

I also continued, when possible, to etch, this being my printmaking choice at art school. I always have enjoyed the process, and it enabled me, on occasion, to develop or extend a drawing.

When I finished teaching, I started to paint again and gradually found myself returning to the point where I had stopped in 1975. It was no longer “Why?”.

My fascination with images has stayed with me throughout my life. As I grew older, images and ideas encountered in literature, art, and history engaged me.

My work concerns itself with picture making. I make use of pre-existing sources, often referencing art history (cultural and political) and literature. These references are conscious, but often in the process of working, subconscious.

Often, images are encountered accidentally and will be the starting point of a picture, or an image will be so strong that it has to be the starting point now or later. At other times, images will be ‘found’ while a work is in progress – is this accident, coincidence, or meant to be? Somehow, certain references and ideas find their way into my work. How these are used and combined with media techniques is the stuff of my picture making.