White Wellman 2023-2024

BeeZir

Artist Statement

For over 30 years I have practiced Landscape Architecture primarily in Southern California and throughout Mexico and Asia. During this time, I painted primarily abstract images in acrylics and multimedia to express things that were intangible in my work. Five years ago, we became full time RV vagabonds, traveling the United States to experience all the country has to offer. I missed painting but the practicality of moving paint and canvases in an RV with 2 adults and 3 dogs proved impractical.

So, I turned to photography to satisfy my creativity. Not surprisingly my primary focus was outdoors. Landscapes, plants and capturing the essence of a place have been my focus as it draws on my experience as a Landscape Architect.

Photographing landscapes is difficult. The feeling one wishes to capture is dependent on framing, light quality, time of year and day. I worked with several photographers during my practice. Some intuitively captured the images as I saw them. Some never did. It is almost impossible to explain how to capture a specific feeling. Everyone interprets images differently.

One thing missing in the photos was the abstraction I could achieve with acrylics and mixed media so in the last year I have been experimenting with ways to achieve this in a format that was easily portable and still allowed me to choose how to achieve the desired imagery. It has been a learning process, moving from hand drawn and executed techniques to a digital format required me to learn what programs and applications allow me to create the images I see in my head. Through this discovery process I have made montage overlay photos that convey both nature and abstraction as I see it. The digital process replicating what I used to see as overlaying differing materials offers more options and greater abilities to refine images until they please me.

It is these images, as they are no longer photos in my eye, that I seek to represent.

It is my hope that the works I’ve achieved convey the emotions as I feel them to the viewer. Or perhaps more accurately, I hope the images convey in them an emotion that is unique to their circumstances irrespective of mine.

Moonrise 2023

BeeZir