THOMAS DIBBLE

Thomas Dibble was a true artist, a creator. Not only did he make art in the traditional sense with his 30-50 pass silk screen prints, photographs, sculptures, drawings and paintings; he also made mundane tasks into acts of creation. Whether he was fixing things around the house with bits of wire and found objects, making breakfast more colorful by hiding peanuts at the bottom of a bowl of cereal filled with green milk, building forts out of trash bags or fridge boxes, or embroidering dragons onto his sweatshirts, everything he did turned to art. Without even thinking, he was creating.

My sister once asked him why he didn’t make art anymore, and he said, “I don’t have anything more to say.” At first, I thought this was sad. But I now believe he had come to a point where he no longer had to actively pursue art to create it. He was able to just be, and what came out of him was art. He had so much to say without knowing it and it poured out in the most banal and unintentional ways. Nothing more to say? I now know that what he had to say was how contented he was with his life and his family.

After serving in the Korean War, Thomas attended San Jose State University, moved to Los Angeles and began teaching art. He met his wife while digging through a dumpster behind her house in Hollywood. Along with teaching junior high, high school and college art classes (mostly photography), he owned a business named KaiDib with his partner Deiter Kaisenberg. They traveled through Europe creating 16mm films and photographing historic architecture and art for educational use. He was a natural teacher of all things and loved to share his knowledge with stranger, friend and family. He lived an extremely full, active and happy life, full of laughter and love. He died in September 2005 in his home, surrounded by family, after a year long battle with pancreatic cancer.

CHRISTOPHER DIBBLE

Christopher Dibble was exposed to art very early in life. How couldn’t he be with a father like Thomas? After years of trying different avenues of work, he found himself following in his father’s artistic footsteps. He attended Pasadena City College for several more years than he should have, and believed film to be his calling. Cinematography.

Thinking long and hard, he decided learning photography would be the best way to become a great cinematographer. But it must have been in his blood, because soon still photography became his only focus. Christopher was accepted to Art Center College of Design, where he graduated with a degree in photography in 2004.

Inspired by his father, he strives to not feel forced to create a piece of art, rather allowing himself to simply live creatively and create works fluidly. Christopher is currently an editorial photographer and creates art through photographic series. His narratives usually touch on human behavior and homosexuality, experimenting with different mediums and expressions. He’s also a successful commercial photographer with published work in magazines ranging from Flaunt to Paper, W to The Advocate. He currently lives in Los Angeles with his boyfriend of 5 years.