Bio and Artist Statements

“A Still Life”, New Work by Terri Tibbatts, Judy Black Memorial Park and Gardens, 11/16 to 12/1/24. For years I’ve gathered flowers from gardens and country roadsides, and New England’s farms have offered a bounty of seasonal fruits and vegetables. I combine and collage this plentiful harvest in photographic images on my scanner, creating a backdrop with unique textiles, my own calligraphy and paintings, old prints and handmade papers. I use baskets, boxes and trays to adjust the light, creating a rich composition of color, shape and story. I might choose California artichokes grown by my nephew, vines gathered nearby at a friend’s house, or peaches from a stand in northern Massachusetts. Most often, I choose flowers from my garden. Sometimes a butterfly or moth sneaks in. I take my inspiration from many sources: Dutch still life paintings; Japanese screens, scrolls and wood blocks; the sketchbooks of herbalists and naturalists; botanical prints; a multitude of gardens. For much of this body of work, I’ve largely used a horizontal landscape orientation. For some of the backgrounds, I used painted papers I recently made in a class with book artist and calligrapher Suzanne Moore. I’ve enjoyed working in this new format. To me, flowers and plants do indeed have personas and importance; they have an ethereal essence I hope to capture in my images. To achieve this, I can’t let the busyness of my life dictate; the plants have their own cycle of growth, flower and decay. The Japanese concept of wabi sabi is another I try to express—the perfect blossom is not always my aim. As I’m held to nature’s calendar, I’m aware of what is happening in the garden, the fields, and the forest at a keen, particular moment. I need to be still and notice, to reflect and focus. For me, these images are visual haiku. They illuminate our Earth’s dramatic and lovely sequence of seasons. BIO The daughter of a Navy pilot, Terri Tibbatts spent the first ten years of her life moving from coast to coast before her family settled in Connecticut. From a young age she was drawn to calligraphy, book design and the book arts, majoring in Art History and Psychology at Smith College. Applying these interests within publishing, she then moved to Japan to study Japanese calligraphy and painting. Upon returning, she worked at a fine arts press and then moved to Washington Depot, CT where she and her husband have lived and raised a family for over 35 years. During this time she received a Master’s degree from Wesleyan University, focusing on artist’s books which are in collections across the country. Experimenting within a variety of media, including printmaking and sumie painting, she was increasingly drawn to photography and scanography and has had work in many galleries in New England. Exhibitions: –”70 Years of Art at the Washington Art Association” Show, Washington Art Association, Washington, CT, Summer 2023. –"Art of the Hills--Visual Evidence", Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA, Summer 2022. –"Freed Formats--the Book Reconsidered", Five Points Art, Torrington, CT and Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven, CT. Spring of 2019. –Washington Art Association Members Show, 1st Place Photography, 2013, 2nd Place Photography 2016 –"Borrowed Scenery", Solo show, Gunn Memorial Library, Washington, CT, 2015 –Washington Art Association Members Show, Honorable Mention Photography (2011, 2012, 2014) –”Shin Jidai”, Milwaukee Center for the Book Arts, Spring 2012 -"Mono no Aware-the Awareness of Things", solo show, Minor Memorial Library Roxbury, CT, Fall 2012. -"Transparent/Opaque 2", Abecedarian Gallery, Denver, CO, Summer 2012 –"Water for Tea", Solo show, Gunn Memorial Library, Washington, CT 2005 –Zilkah Gallery, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT Terri Tibbatts is a book artist, photographer, printmaker and calligrapher. She is a student of Japanese brushwork and book arts, and has exhibited her work exclusively and in private and university collections across the U.S. Her commercial work includes Shoji Shades, a specialty design business producing custom window shades made from Japanese papers. Her calligraphy and artist’s books are featured in the book collections of a number of American colleges and universities, including Yale, Dartmouth, University of Indiana, University of Iowa, Smith College and Ringling School of Art and Design?. Her exhibits include: "Borrowed Scenery", Gunn Memorial Library, Washington CT (Fall 2015), "Nature Reflected", Northwest CT Arts Council, David Hunt Library, Falls Village, CT (Spring 2015); "Mono no Aware: The Awareness of Things", an exclusive show of scanner photography and encaustics at the Minor Memorial Library Gallery, Roxbury, CT (Fall of 2012); ? "Meeting Past", Akin Library and Museum, Pawling, NY (Fall of 2013);"Shin Jidai Contemporary Japanese Book and Paper Arts", Minnesota Center for the Book Arts, Minneapolis, MN (Summer 2012); "Transparent/Opaque 2", Abecedarian Gallery, Denver, CO (Summer 2012); and "Water for Tea", Gunn Memorial Library, Washington, CT (Winter 2005). Terri’s awards include First Prize, Photography, (2012), Second Prize, Photography (2016) and Honorary Mention, Photography, Washington Art Association (2011, 2013, 2014); and Fourth prize, Prints and Books, Canton Gallery on the Green, Canton, CT (2000). She received a master’s degree from Wesleyan University in 2004 where she was awarded the Rulewater Prize for outstanding interdisciplinary work. She was an undergraduate art history and psychology major at Smith College. Her post-graduate work included teaching and studying in Japan where she focused on Japanese calligraphy and brushwork. She continues to develop and explore these disciplines in a wide range of alternative media, including photography, calligraphy, encaustic, printmaking, and bookbinding. Terri lives in Washington Depot, CT and has taught a variety of book arts classes for ASAP (After School Arts Program) in Litchfield County. She is married to Franklin Nichols, a professional cabinet maker and woodworker; they have two sons, Seth and Lyle Nichols. Artist Statement, "Mono No Aware", 2012 The process of collecting the plant material and arranging it relates to my study of ?ikebana? (Japanese flower arranging) and to the Japanese concepts of "mono no aware" (“the awareness of things”) and "wabi sabi". Difficult to translate, these concepts express awareness and acceptance of impermanence— the transience of all things and the tender, bittersweet sadness that comes from their passing. Both concepts and ikebana have their roots in Shinto beliefs and Zen Buddhism. The Shinto religion in Japan believes inanimate objects have a spirit and power and that there are spiritual forces in nature and in natural objects such as rocks, trees, water and plants. The author of "Inspired Flower Arrangements", Toshiro Kawase—A master of ikebana—wrote that "all plants can speak". It is this communication that drew me into this process. A few Septembers ago, soon after both of my sons had left home for college, I plucked a brilliant morning glory and its vine and placed it on my scanner with some lines of calligraphy. I loved the way the scanned image came out--a bit blurry and vague. I also liked the negative space around the flower and began experimenting with adding texture and pattern. Later that winter I used mums left over from a holiday arrangement combined with thin Japanese mulberry paper. In the spring I gathered the tight buds of peonies and placed them near small, pink Japanese cups. In fall I picked quince, and as I scanned them, the heat of the scanner released more of their evocative scent. Each season I would look for the flower or plant that spoke to me and arrange it on the scanner. Many of these plants were ones that I had often drawn in my sketchbooks, so they already had a relationship with me and my brush. The blurring of the images, the lines of the scanner and the soft shadows delighted me, and I made hundreds of these images as each season came and went. The technical aspect of scanning at first blinded me to how similar this was to the art of ikebana and the placement of flowers in a vase or vessel. Kawase writes that "all flower arranging is a form of prayer" and this idea was an affirmation and a revelation to me. Yes, that is somehow how it felt to arrange the flowers or fruit and capture them in time. It was a small prayer. A small poem. Effects of aging (!), of accident and a sense of nostalgia are characteristic of ?wabi sabi.? All figure into my life and art at this time. The Zen precept of being in the moment is also important to this work, as I cannot put off capturing certain flowers or fruits because the next day or week might be too late. It is an exercise in slowing down and seeing, and one of patience and gratitude. I often use flowers or fruits that have a short life or are only available for a brief part of the season, like morning glories, plums or peony blossoms. This awareness of the seasons and of the natural world around me relates to my practice of writing haiku. This new work is about the daily beauty that fills the garden, the fields and my life. Artist Statement, "Water For Tea", 2005 My focus has always been in the book arts. In 2004 I completed a master's degree at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, with a concentration in art. I spent much of my studio time studying Japanese woodblock printing, sumi-e (Japanese brushwork and painting), typography and letterpress printing, and artist's books. I also studied Zen Buddhism, which prompted me to begin writing haiku as a form of active meditation. During this time I was exposed to two important collections of artist's books, at Wesleyan's Special Collections and Archives and at Yale's Arts of the Book. As the final requirement for the degree, I designed, printed and bound a limited edition artist's book, Water for Tea, which combined many of the elements I had been studying and experimenting with while at Wesleyan. This artist's book uses some of the basic elements of the book form as a jumping off point for my creativity. Calligraphy, brushwork, handmade papers, letterpress printing, color, translucency, and my own words are combined to engage the reader/viewer in a playful and active way. It is a book that requires time and active participation from the reader, much like haiku and sumi-e drawing which both present minimal amounts of information. I ask the reader to use his or her own imagination, memories and associations to fully experience the poems, the drawings and the book as a whole. Taking time to breathe(!) and being in the present moment are necessary requirements for good haiku or brushwork, and important aspects of experiencing Water for Tea. Recently, I have been experimenting with combining photography, monotypes, encaustic and collage with my brushwork and calligraphy. Using shapes and images that have always intrigued me, I continue to learn, study and make some progress. The Japanese woodblock artist, Hokusai, described the time and diligence necessary for the mastery of the brush: "From the age of 5 I have had a mania for sketching the forms of things. From about the age to 50 I produced a number of designs, yet of all I drew to the age of 70 there is nothing of great note. At the age of 73 I finally apprehended something of true quality of birds, insects, fishes and the vital nature of grasses and trees. There- fore, at 80 I shall have made some progress, at 90 I shall have penetrated even further the deeper meaning of things, at 100 I shall have become truly marvelous, and at 110, each dot, each line shall surely possess a life of its own."