Bill Beatty, Apex, NC
I paint with action and energy, often fueled by music,using liberal amounts of vibrant color. My works are mixed media assemblies to the extent that cotton string, ripped canvas, inks and pencil are mixed with acrylic paints and media. I paint flat on unprimed canvas using fluid techniques evolved from my early watercolor painting. Paper is used for quick studies and experimentation. Several paintings are built at the same in layers that juggle partial and full drying cycles. I intentionally express the canvas and media for what they are.
I rarely use brushes to apply and move the media, preferring squirt bottles, spray bottles, and eye droppers. I’ll use sticks, kitchen tools and found objects to move media. I respect how gravity, airflow and water-acrylic chemistries produce predictable and unpredictable results. I tip, shake, and flip canvases throughout a painting’s incarnation.
References to specific messages, people, places or things are obscured or disassembled. Organic and universal shapes and patterns are held in check so a completed work is almost something or somewhere. Paintings are organized by series with similar attributes, not by when they were created. I avoid using subjective titles designed to trigger responses to my liking. Viewers are free to construct their own interpretation (or not!), informed by their experiences and narratives. For me, my works are complete when shared with and observed by others.
