Bio
Sarah Margaret Gibson (b. 1988) is from Cincinnati, OH.
Sarah Margaret is a world-renowned master in contemporary realist painting. She specialises in portraiture, bird and floral paintings, and in still lifes. Characterized by a rich tenebrism, Gibson’s work dramatically juxtaposes light against shadow. She believes that light, and all of its symbolic qualities, are most poetic when contrasted against dark. Through her drawings and paintings, Gibson opens up a dialogue with nature, responding to what she finds beautiful and endeavoring to communicate this through the medium of oil paint.
Gibson received her formal training in drawing and painting in Florence, Italy. She studied at the Angel Academy of Art from 2008-2010, and then completed the full three-year program at The Florence Academy of Art, from which she graduated in 2013 and where she subsequently taught as a Principal Instructor in their Intermediate Drawing and Painting Programme.
In 2015 Sarah Margaret moved to the west coast of Scotland alongside her husband and fellow artist, Lee Craigmile. Together they cofounded the Glasgow Academy of Fine Art in 2019, a formal training academy at which she taught traditional methods of representational drawing and painting to aspiring professional artists. In 2024, Gibson and Craigmile decided to transition the Academy, moving the school to Lee’s hometown on the west coast and combining it with their personal painting studio to create Ayrshire Atelier of Fine Art. Gibson acts as Creative Director and Principal Instructor of Studio Workshops at the atelier and she splits her time between painting for galleries and commissions, teaching, and raising her young son.
Gibson's work is shown throughout the U.S., U.K. and Europe and can be found in the New Britain Museum of American Art, The New Salem Museum of Art, and in numerous private collections. She is represented by Arcadia Contemporary in Soho, NYC. Sarah Margaret is an Artistic Ambassador for The King’s Foundation, and is a Brand Ambassador for Michael Harding Paints.
Curriculum Vitae
Born:
1988 Cincinnati, OH
Education:
2010-2014 The Florence Academy of Art
2008-2010 Angel Academy of Art, Florence
2008 University of Cambridge Summer Schools, Art History Program
2007-2008 Maryland Institute College of Art
2006 Carnegie Mellon Summer Institute, Drawing and Painting
Teaching:
2019-Present The Glasgow Academy of Fine Art, Co-founder & Academic Director
2017-2019 The Edinburgh Atelier of Fine Art, Principle Instructor of Artistic Anatomy
2016 The Glasgow School of Art, Continuing Education Department
2013-2015 The Florence Academy of Art, Principle Instructor of Intermediate
Drawing and Painting Program
2012-2013 The Florence Academy of Art, Assistant Instructor of Intensive Drawing Program
2009-2010 Interlochen Center for the Arts Summer Program, Visual Arts Assistant Teacher
Solo Exhibitions:
Upcoming:
2022 ‘Sarah Margaret Gibson’s Aviary’, Arcadia Contemporary, Soho NYC
Past:
2018 ‘Form and Atmosphere: the Recents Works of Sarah Margaret Gibson and Lee Craigmile’, The Mary Ran Gallery,
Cincinnati OH
2015 ‘The Recent Work of Sarah-Margaret Gibson’, The Mary Ran
Gallery, Cincinnati OH
2014 ‘ Reflections of Florence: the Drawings and Paintings of Sarah-Margaret Gibson’, The Mary Ran Gallery,
Cincinnati OH
2013 ‘The Work of Sarah-Margaret Gibson’, The Mary Ran Gallery, Cincinnati OH
2011 ‘Meet the Artist and her Work’, Brian Gibson Antiques, Cincinnati OH
Group Exhibitions:
2021 ‘Five and Under’, Arcadia Contemporary, Soho NYC
‘Flora Nova: Painting Nature Now’, Sugarlift Gallery, Soho NYC
‘Mistress Spring’, Collins Gallery, Cape Cod
‘Grand Re-Opening Exhibition’, Arcadia Contemporary, Soho NYC
2020 ‘Five and Under’, Arcadia Contemporary, Pasadena CA
2019 ‘Summer Time, Summer Place’, Thistle Gallery, Glasgow UK
‘The Figure’, Fotheringham Gallery, Bridge of Allan UK
‘Small Paintings’, Morningside Gallery, Edinburgh UK
2018 ‘Unwrapped’, Thistle Gallery, Glasgow UK
Postcards Exhibition, Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow UK
2017 Postcards Exhibition, Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow UK
2016 Still Life Exhibition, Mary Ran Gallery, Cincinnati OH
2015 Girls’ Night Out, Art Design Consultants ADC Inc., Cincinnati OH
2015 Grand Opening Exhibition for the Florence Academy ofArt, U.S., Mana Contemporary,
Jersey City NJ
2014 Portraits, Mary Ran Gallery, Cincinnati OH
2014 Represent 2014, The 20th Century Theatre, 291 Westbourne Grove, London, UK
2013 Annual Alumni Art Show, The Seven Hills School, Cincinnati, OH
2012 The Florence Academy of Art Sixth Alumni Exhibition, Palazzo Corsini, Florence, Italy
2010 Annigoni’s Legacy, The Villa Bardini, Florence, Italy
Interlochen Arts Camp Faculty and Staff Exhibition, Interlochen, MI
Annual Alumni Art Show, The Seven Hills School, Cincinnati, OH
2009 The Art of Sei Divino Wine Bar, Student Exhibition, Florence, Italy
Angel Academy of Art Annual Student Exhibition, Florence, Italy, Group Juried Show
Interlochen Arts Camp Faculty and Staff Exhibition, Interlochen, MI
2008 Angel Academy of Art Annual Student Exhibition, Florence, Italy, Group Juried Show
Awards and Honors:
2020 Finalist in the Art Renewal Center’s Salon Competition
The painting ‘Lee During Lockdown’ accepted into the Royal Institute of Oil Painters’ annual exhibition
2019 Featured in the Sky Arts’ programme, ‘Portrait Artist of the Year’. Painting chosen by contestant, Nitin Sawhney.
2015 Painting Les Fleurs du Mal received into the permanent collection of the
New Britain Museum of American Art
2013 Second Place Winner of the Art Renewal Center’s Annual Scholarship Competition
Winner of Art Comes Alive 2013 “Still Life Artist of the Year” Award
Awarded the “Fourth Year Scholarship Prize” by the Florence Academy of Art
Featured in the French television documentary, “Le Gran Tour”
Accepted into the Hudson River Fellowship for landscape
painting
2012 Article entitled “On Process” published in Composite Arts Quarterly Magazine
2011 Third Place Winner of the Art Renewal Center’s Annual Scholarship Competition