NO MISTAKES “Artist and teacher Charley Gips enjoys helping her students at Monticello High School explore their creative interests. Below are examples of her own graphic work and, bottom, an avatar. Adriana Serafino photo
The inspired creations of Charley Gips
Hurleyville educator’s work is filled with whimsy, color
By Adriana Serafino | Manor Ink
As you walk towards the playground in Hurleyville, you will see a large menorah sculpture that was created by artist Charley Gips. The giant Hanukkah candelabra is just one of Gips’s many inspired creations. The life of an artist is full of searching for inspiration, and the Hurleyville creative says she often is inspired by music and makes her own playlist of songs to play while painting.
Charley reminisced with Manor Ink about how she started on her artistic journey. “I was four or five, and my parents came home and found that I had painted my entire leg all different colors. My dad’s reaction was she’s going to be an artist. So my mom let me paint on the walls. Once I had the encouragement of my parents behind me, I think that really pushed my creativity.”
BIOMORPHIC Gips stands with the menorah she created for the Celebration of Lights in Hurleyville. Adriana Serafino photo
Later, in high school, Charley was influenced by her art teacher. “She would say things such as, ‘There are no mistakes in art,’ or ‘If you make a mistake, then you can change it into something different,’ Gips recalled.
Charley later went to Parsons School of Design in New York City where she obtained a degree in illustration, and then obtained a Masters in Arts Education from Adelphi University. In addition to creating drawings and paintings, another art form Gips works in is animation. Many of her art pieces and illustrations have characters representing the sun and moon that feel whimsical, mixing space themes and nature.
Gips has been a teaching assistant for five years at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel, and recently became the full-time art teacher at Monticello High School. She has a creative approach to instructing her students, and recommends a website for art educators from the Art of Education University at theartofeducation.edu. It has lesson plans for teachers to use and courses for them to take.
“My favorite parts of teaching are having students engage with what I’m doing, and also working with them to understand what they’re interested in, and where they’re at with those interests, so I can meet them there,” said Gips.
She offered this advice for beginning artists. “I would say, just practice. You should always have your sketchbook with you, too, so you can draw whenever inspiration hits,” she said. She also had thoughts about subject matter. “Just draw people you know. Recognize colors and how to mix them. See things in a different light, and don’t settle for ordinary.”
If you’re interested learning more about Charley Gips, visit her website at charleyjgips.com. As she says on her Facebook page, “I make biomorphic patterns, psychedelic imagery, and create worlds full of life, color, and mysticism!”
