Only a couple of years ago, glass artist Krista Gibson attended the Boreal Shores Art Tour purely as an onlooker. Impressed by the event, she made up her mind to submit her own application. And now, she is returning for her sophomore year as one of the featured artists on the tour.
In her initial year, Gibson was astonished by the opportunity she had. She converted her garage and driveway into a showroom for her art, which featured a show-and-tell area where she could share her process with visitors.
“I loved meeting other artists who stopped by to discuss their process,” she shared.
Originally from Winnipeg but now residing in Victoria Beach, Gibson constantly seeks new challenges and has held various jobs throughout her career. She holds two certifications in the trades, one in Industrial Mechanics and the other in Cosmetology. Some of her past jobs include maintenance supervisor and production manager in advertising for catalogue production and retail.
Just over six years ago, she fell in love with glass art. When she first started, it was all following stained glass patterns, but she soon began to play around with her ideas. Playing around with the colours and different textured glass brings her joy; she loves to draw and create something different and unique each time.
“It began with a few evening classes on the medium to help drive away the winter blues, but after creating my first few pieces, I was hooked!” said Gibson.
She often finds herself inspired by nature to create what she loves, and creating with local materials that tell a story is one of her favourite parts of her art, like those with stained glass panels that include vintage dishes or fused glass landscapes with a birch bark setting. She loves that she can bring a new life to the past.
Gibson loves to walk and bike beach trails, cross-country skiing, and golf in her free time. She looks forward to discovering new music and catching up with old friends at the Winnipeg Folk Festival every year. She and her husband, Peter, have been together for 33 years and have two children, Breanna and Kyle.
Many of Gibson’s pieces are custom requests. When she is asked to create something, she will sketch it out on paper and then incorporate it into a pattern that will fit the glass material she works with. She learns from her past projects and experiments with each piece as she works on it.
“Practice makes perfect, and I’m still learning,” said Gibson. “I always know that the next project can and will be different.”
Gibson opened her very own art gallery at 170 Saffie Road, Albert Beach, just this year. She took over the Summer Shack clothing store in March and began renovations to transform the space into a gallery setting. She opened during the May long weekend and then only during the weekends in June. Now, she is open Thursday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. until the October long weekend.
Before opening her shop, Gibson’s Gallery, her sales came from displaying her work at markets, posting on Facebook and Instagram, and from friends and family. Now, alongside her work, she features the work of 16 other Manitoba artists in her gallery space, which provides a wonderful assortment of art and something different each week.
All of Gibson’s work is available on her Instagram page, gibsons_glass, and she has a website coming soon.
The Boreal Shores Art Tour is a self-guided tour featuring artists across eastern Manitoba, from Sandy Bay to Falcon Lake, on Aug. 17 and 18. It was founded in 2017 and is the largest of its kind in Manitoba. Alongside Gibson’s glass art, the works featured will include wood carvings, pottery, photography, beading, paintings, sketchings, and more. More information about the tour, featured artists, and its history can be found online at borealshoresarttour.ca.
