ARTIST STATEMENT

I paint and I hike, now to the point that I can’t imagine one without the other. While hiking, I’m captivated by nature’s compositions – sculpted trees and rocks, distant crags, vivid greens, rain-soaked browns, icy glazes, the light, the gloom – as I tramp along, half the fun is imagining how I’ll capture what I see and feel. I am particularly drawn to scenes that convey the solitude, stillness and mystery in nature. And today, unfortunately, sometimes it’s the apparent distress. Other times it’s the almost surreal clarity of a brilliantly sunlit scene.

When back in the studio – or better yet, en plein air - I try to express those feelings absorbed along the trail and put them to canvas. While much of my painting to date has been fairly representational, I find I’m increasingly incorporating elements of abstraction.

During the pandemic, I began experimenting with collage. Joyful, spontaneous, messy and also completely absorbing during lockdown. For me, there’s often no deep underlying thought or meaning: In a collage I’m simply looking for a pleasing and energetic interplay of shape, color and contrast.

I began this “second act” seven years ago, after a long career in banking. My path began with studies in the Studio Arts program at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. There, I was fortunate to have Linda Hoetink, artist/designer/teacher, as a mentor. In the past several years I’ve shown work at the Brookline Arts Center, Concord Center for Visual Art, Rockport Art Association & Museum, Rocky Neck Art Colony, and in Open Studios at the Fenway Studios in Boston.

CONTACT

For further information, I can be reached at:

clsbean@hotmail.com

Instagram: clsbean2019