George Dibble

This issue features the work of George Dibble, noted Utah watercolorist, teacher, and art critic. Dibble was born in Laie, Oahu, Hawaii, and began his studies at the University of Utah with Jack Sears and Mabel Frazer, receiving a teacher’s diploma there in 1925. From 1929 to 1930 he studied at the Art Students League of New York with Ivan Olinsky, George Bridgman, and Howard Giles, then moved on to Columbia University, where he studied with Charles Martin, Arthur Young, and Sallie Tannahill, receiving B.S. and M.A. degrees in 1938 and 1940. From 1930 to 1937 he was the art supervisor for Murray City schools, taught in Salt Lake City schools from 1939 to 1941, and from 1941 to 1972 was on the staff of the art department at the University of Utah, where he is currently professor emeritus. In 1990 he received a Distinguished Alumnus award from the University of Utah. His publications include Water color: Materials and Techniques (New York: Holt Rinehart and Winston, 1966) and the weekly art column, “The Art Scene,” in the Salt Lake Tribune . Dibble married Cleone Atwood in 1932, and they have three sons, George, Jr., Stephen A., Jonathan A., and ten grandchildren. About his work, Dibble says: “Watercolor, like any painting medium, has its own special characteristics. My goal is to consistently increase awareness of such qualities in transparent watercolor painting. “Though watercolors can be capricious, they nonetheless have a high potential for expressing mood and feeling. The medium allows a wide range of approaches- from metic￾ulously managed passages in controlled washes to spontaneously expressed combinations of water and fresh pigment. “I find satisfaction in the stimulating reactions possible between special papers and freshly applied color. Over-management can result in muddy, unclear passages, although desired moods should prescribe the technique in most cases. “I generally avoid try-out steps before working on an idea itself. Such procedures can result in tired, stale painting. It takes courage and confidence to sustain life in a work.”