Lessons from teacher come alive

“Royden Gibbs, my teacher unravelled a whole new world for me. A world of colour and form and perspective. I started looking at everything with new eyes. ‘Look at the sky, the sea, at the leaves and think of what colours they hold,’ he told me. “Rose madder and sap green and cobalt blue float in front of my eyes, tinged with yellow ochre…

“Dissuading us painting from anything but nature he made us see the wonders of nature. Nature he told us was our best teacher.”

This is how Dilani Wijeyesekera describes the influence of her teacher, artist Royden Gibbs on her work, as a group of his students prepare for their exhibition titled “Paints and Brushes-an art exhibition by the students of Royden Gibbs” at the Lionel Wendt on July 15 and 16.

“Through my art, I appreciate nature and the environment more. It gives me the serenity, solitude and peace of mind,” says another student Yazmin Mohamed. Late in life fulfilling a lifelong liking for painting, making colours move and blend to make things come alive is an exciting experience, is how Arjun Delgoda feels about his work.

Other students of Royden Gibbs exhibiting their work at this exhibition include Yanaal Shaam, a 15-year-old student of the British School, Devika Florrimell an art teacher herself, Nilmini Nayomi Mahaegodage, Tishan Perera, Kalpani Fernando and Gamini Fernando who says that for him art relaxes him from the stresses of his work in the building industry.

Most of this group have been working with Gibbs for some years now and enjoy the many windows to their artistic capabilities that he has opened for them.