Bill Brody: About the Artist
Each summer I go deep into the wilderness of Alaska's mountains to paint. I spend my time chasing light and dancing shadow, trying to capture the dynamic richness of this spare and wonderful northern landscape. I moved to Florida ion 2010 and now spend time in her wetlands capturing this vastly different landscape. Working in the wild is my wellspring; it grounds me for the flights of introspection that occupy me in the studio. I reflect on my wilderness experiences when I make prints and intensely colored paintings on canvas and carved metal, fusing the figure with the landscape. This cycle of renewal has been repeated and refined over a number of years. My memories of the wilderness provide concrete grounding for the work I do during the inside, and the insights and technical experiences gained working in the studio are reflected in turn the when I go back outdoors to paint and draw.
I have been going into the wilderness for the past quarter century to witness the landscape by painting and drawing what it is like to be there in mind and body. I commit to this venture so long as I am able. This is my beacon, the measure against which all the rest of my art must stand. When I'm out in the landscape I wait until the land seems to move; to come alive. I start to see geological processes and personalize them. I feel how the land folds back onto itself, touching one part to another like a blow; like a caress; like hands rubbing against the cold... And then there's the light, and the clouds blowing and dancing in the sky. I paint all day, most every day. It is enormously satisfying to finish a large canvas in the field; the more difficult the subject matter, and the more challenging the terrain the better. Sometimes I force myself to break away and explore. Then I sketch and take panoramic photographs. The photographs are not source material for my paintings, but rather material for another kind of art, one of immersion in virtual reality, or for web presentation, or as very large photographic prints. The sketches, journals, and panoramas are source material for other paintings, prints and very large-scale works on forged and carved copper and bronze.
Each summer I go deep into the wilderness of Alaska's mountains to paint. I spend my time chasing light and dancing shadow, trying to capture the dynamic richness of this spare and wonderful northern landscape. I moved to Florida ion 2010 and now spend time in her wetlands capturing this vastly different landscape. Working in the wild is my wellspring; it grounds me for the flights of introspection that occupy me in the studio. I reflect on my wilderness experiences when I make prints and intensely colored paintings on canvas and carved metal, fusing the figure with the landscape. This cycle of renewal has been repeated and refined over a number of years. My memories of the wilderness provide concrete grounding for the work I do during the inside, and the insights and technical experiences gained working in the studio are reflected in turn the when I go back outdoors to paint and draw.
I have been going into the wilderness for the past quarter century to witness the landscape by painting and drawing what it is like to be there in mind and body. I commit to this venture so long as I am able. This is my beacon, the measure against which all the rest of my art must stand. When I'm out in the landscape I wait until the land seems to move; to come alive. I start to see geological processes and personalize them. I feel how the land folds back onto itself, touching one part to another like a blow; like a caress; like hands rubbing against the cold... And then there's the light, and the clouds blowing and dancing in the sky. I paint all day, most every day. It is enormously satisfying to finish a large canvas in the field; the more difficult the subject matter, and the more challenging the terrain the better. Sometimes I force myself to break away and explore. Then I sketch and take panoramic photographs. The photographs are not source material for my paintings, but rather material for another kind of art, one of immersion in virtual reality, or for web presentation, or as very large photographic prints. The sketches, journals, and panoramas are source material for other paintings, prints and very large-scale works on forged and carved copper and bronze.