The Art of Catherine Gibson

ABOUT THE PAINTER
Catherine Gibson Havemeier has been involved in painting since she was in high school. After graduating from college she taught in Philadelphia area schools. She also taught for Temple University’s School of Education; at Wichita State University in the Humanities Department; Lower Merion, PA School District; and School District of Lancaster. She was the first person to teach the Manheim Township Recreation Commission art classes. She is now engaged in web design, and for thirty-six years has owned an antique business. She is a regular presenter for Elderhostel. She has four children and five grandchildren.

Catherine has a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and a doctorate from Temple University.  She studied art with John Baltadonis in Haverford, PA, Travers Neidlinger in Middletown, New Jersey, and Geza DeVegh in Tinton Falls, New Jersey. She taught art in New Jersey and Nebraska. Her paintings have hung in the Newark, New Jersey Museum; Monmouth College; Middletown, New Jersey Town Hall, as well as venues in New Jersey, Nebraska, Kansas and New York.  She illustrated a proposed children’s mathematics series for the Houghton Mifflin Company, and also was an editor on an English series.

Recently she began documenting the devastation of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Coal regions, where she spent time with her grandmother while growing up. She worked from old photographs, some of which belonged to her family. She’s not sure what set her on this track. She says, “One day I just sat down, and it happened. I seemed to get lost in it.” Catherine does a lot of pictures on commission, but she most enjoys painting people and places that catch her attention.