is the artist the author, or is the artistic process autonomous, like a big bang?

PHILIP BIELMANN FINE ART

art for life

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ARTIST’S STATEMENT

The incomparable and phenomenal beauty found in our world, below the oceans, in micro systems, in the skies, and observed in the vastness of the universe, cannot be justly emulated nor replicated in any comparable measure.  Just the same, we are profoundly inspired by what we observe there.  Unlike any other creature on this planet, as humans we have been given the ability to think abstractly.  We need order in our world, and we’d do well to uphold order in our world, yet there is significant unrest on our planet.  We yearn for personal wellbeing and tranquility. 

I am grateful for my 43 year career in designing conceptual plans for clients, presenting them by drawing three dimensional perspective renderings to accurately project visions of what could be built for them.  This process further requires that I instruct craftspeople through precisely engineered shop drawings so that they can accurately build the designs envisioned.  Although my career has allowed me to express creativity for many years, it has not completely quenched my desire to compose and express thoughts and heart felt sentiments, which I believe are inexpressible through most any other form, other than through painting.

I very much admire and respect representational artists and their art.  Personally, I am inspired by what we observe, yet I am not moved to make art which replicates that which already exists.  I strongly feel the need to let impressions felt and considered to be expressed in and through a variety of materials, pigments and paints, allowing these elements to interact, and my desire is to compose without the obvious influence of the human hand. 

I am moved and enthused to draw and paint when I observe intriguing cloud patterns or satellite imagery of our Earth, or when I look through a telescope or a microscope, observing fabulous scapes of grandeur in macro or micro scales. 

Solid tones are beautiful, yet I’m most stirred by graduating colours, tones and textures which are frequently seen in nature, the heavens, or most anywhere else where we humans have not brought our influence and most certainly with less ingenuity than what we find within and beyond ourselves, yet not created by us. 

Being a self taught musician, and preferring instrumental sounds not accompanied by lyrical story lines, I discovered that my mind and sentiments filled in the blanks, using the instrumental music as a platform to conjure upon, not being restricted by a composer’s story line’s singularity.  Thus, my observation and conclusion is that an abstraction not only serves as a conduit for me to express my thoughts and sentiments, but perhaps it serves as a platform to inspire the observer to conjure a variety of thoughts and sentiments of their own, looking beyond another human’s story line or philosophical construct. 

Not being formally trained in art beyond high school, and even though I speak 3 languages, I feel that some sentiments cannot be expressed through words.  The pleasure derived from laying down elements from within onto canvas, paper and wood, assists me to ponder and consider the profundity of all which we observe within us and beyond us. 

My hope is that these images will serve as windows for the observer into scapes which inspire the most complex element known to us, the human brain, to think beyond what is expected and commonly seen, as this art continues to bring pleasure to me. 

Philip Bielmann

BIOGRAPHY:

Born in Brazil, son of a Swiss shoe designer father and a Brazilian mother who taught high school French, she a descendant of families from Spain and Italy, and having lived on three continents, early multicultural influences have left deep rooted imprints upon me. 

Desiring to become an architect as a youth, but not following through scholastically, I would have resorted to my preference of becoming an artist.  However, having considered what might be the most prudent alternative, I decided to return to college and study cabinetmaking.  Subsequently, I apprenticed under a Dutch craftsman, then was hired by a larger furniture manufacturer to design and produce 3 dimensional perspective renderings by hand for their sales staff.  A few years on, an offer to design for a custom architectural millwork manufacture was attractive, and I joined them for 4.5 years.  

In 1985 my wife and I started a small custom design and studio craft shop, hired a few craftsmen, and our business grew, mostly through referrals and word of mouth.  As thankful as we are for the livelihood which we’ve enjoyed through the years, we have felt somewhat diverted, in having to organize and manage up to 57 staff members, and many projects needing to be delivered throughout Canada, Bermuda, the Bahamas, and in parts of the United States.  My career as a designer and maker of custom furnishings has been, and continues to be very fulfilling.  Yet, the urge to express impressions artistically through other means has intensified in the last 17 years.  Thus, whenever time permits, whether at home, overseas, or enjoying nature when camping, I carve out opportunities to create on canvas, paper and wood. 

Philip Bielmann

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