Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Eric Gibbons. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Eric, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My parents had me just 11 months after they married. They were fresh out of college, and didn’t have much in the way of savings. My mother was from an artistic family. Her mother was an artist, and her mother’s mother was an artist. So though they could not afford to buy me toys, my mom was able to procure some crayons and butcher’s paper. I am told I started scribbling before I could talk. I think because art was valued in my family, and I was praised for my drawings, it gave me deep roots and a love of art very early in my life. I don’t actually think I was particularly “gifted” as an artist, but I think it was a positive experience that has shaped my life in many ways. Today I am a fairly well-recognized and published art educator and have some of my own artwork in some nice collections. Just today I dropped off an artwork to the North Carolina Museum of Art for an exhibition in November.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I feel sometimes like I am three people all at once; Artist, Teacher, and Author.

I grew up living and breathing art, I am well-versed in a lot of media. I have experience with clay, studying under a master in Japan. I have been doing Origami since I was five, creating many original figures under a pen name. I can handle welding, stained glass, woodworking, calligraphy, photography, and of course I paint and draw in most media you can think of. I have become known in some circles for my figurative box series in monochromatic oil paints. One is even in the Obama White House collection. They are allegories about my life and experiences based on live models who have posed for me in a box. I was inspired by a trip to Paris and the Louvre in 2004. Before that, I did figurative abstract works in acrylics.

Because I am well-versed in a broad array of media, I am able to pass along that knowledge to my students as an art teacher. I am a passionate advocate for the importance of art education. Art teachers know, when we grid, measure, and draw—we use geometry. When we make sculptures—we use engineering. When we mix colors—we reveal information about physics. When we create illustrations for stories—we learn about literature. When we review the styles of art from da Vinci to Banksy—we teach history. When we teach ceramics—we teach chemistry. When we write about art—we strengthen our writing skills. When we create works of art, we solve complex visual problems in creative ways. Art is the meeting place of all subjects. I have a knack for finding ways to help people explore their creative side and discover the media that “speaks” to them.

I grew up with a learning disability that made spelling nearly impossible, but now have nearly 100 books to my credit. Instant spell check has been a huge help to me, and I lean on my English teacher friends to edit my books. Publishing has been a way for me to share my knowledge and ideas with many other people from around the world. I write what inspires me and I hope inspires others, from children’s books that teach children about art history, to pedagogical collections to help other art educators reach their children.

These three very different modes of communication keep my ADHD brain occupied. When I tire of one, I switch gears, and slide into another.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

As I said before, I was a terrible speller in school. I feared being called on and called out. ADHD was not a “thing” back then. I even had an English teacher tell me I was “hopeless.”

I know I had interesting ideas and stories to tell, but my teachers were so bogged down with spelling and grammar that they could not nurture the creativity underneath. As I went to college, I was never without a dictionary. When “spell check” became a thing, I was able to pour myself into my writing and not feel too embarrassed to share my work. In 2002 I wrote my first book, and it was published in 2004. It still does well and I continue to earn royalties for it.

The success of that first book gave me the energy to try another, but that one failed to find a publisher. I knew there was a market for it, so I learned how to self-publish. It too has become a success, and instead of earning a sliver of royalties, I am able to keep a larger portion of its proceeds. Now not all my books do as well. Some sell but a single copy in a year, but enough do well enough that my mortgage payments are essentially covered by my book sales.

Have you ever had to pivot?

My paintings did very well in the early 2000s. I was featured in ArtNEWS magazine, and American Art Collector as well as some other prominent publications. I was beginning to think I would be able to work full-time as a painter. In 2008 though we had the housing crash. With people losing their homes, they were not buying art. I went from selling 2 or 3 large works a month to 1 or 2 per year. This was also the time that my publishing was starting to gain some traction. So I switched from painting for hours in my studio to writing more and more. Teaching always paid the bills and provided good healthcare. I enjoyed teaching, but painting and writing afforded me opportunities to reach an audience outside my tiny studio. When one wanes, I slide into the other. If people can’t afford paintings, they will still buy a book. When book sales are slow, I can slide into painting or illustrating.

During Covid, I pivoted again and got into social media. I grew my YouTube channel which is now monetized. I also had the time to learn a bit about other online platforms, and gained a nice following on Tiktok as “ArtEdGuru.” I have about 700,000 followers there and sometimes they support my teaching efforts by donating supplies to my students or purchasing books.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.artedguru.com and www.firehousepublications.com
• Instagram: @artedguru
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/EGibbons
• TikTok: @artedguru