We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Whitney Bell. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Whitney below.
Whitney, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
My most recent paintings all include some marks made by my children. Sometimes an under painting and at others, a mark here and a mark there, it is not really an optional thing. They are both interested in art and in my studio a lot. Our house is small and they find me quickly…they are 2 and almost 5. Their fresh organic marks, made subconsciously most of the time, are what I am striving for when I paint sporadic layers of free form non-objective shapes. I try to work faster than I can think most of the time, balancing my composition as my eye sees another space in need of a shape or drip of whichever color I am working with in that moment. Often when my painting feels stagnant, Gus or Babs will add just the thing to get me past my block. And it may not be something I keep entirely, but it shifts my focus, which is often what I needed anyway. There is a particular painting that I love which was made by myself and my son Gus when he was almost two. This 4’x5’ painting is called Waterscape and was made through many layers and painting sessions together. Sometimes he would doodle in oil pastel, others he would move big blobs of color around with a brush. He even created one layer body painting in his diaper with crayola finger paints.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Hi, I am Whitney Bell! I am a contemporary abstract painter living in Fayetteville, Arkansas as well as teaching art at Springdale High School one town north. I am a mother to two small humans, Gus and Babs, who inspire and literally add to my work. I have loved painting since I was a teenager.. Having loved art my entire childhood but not having taken a ton of art courses in my public high school, I majored in Painting and Drawing at the University of Arkansas. Honestly I was not the best student. I tell my students this all the time. However, when I decided I wanted to teach art, the year after graduating with my BA in studio art, I was on the Dean’s list. I had found what I wanted to do with art. I say all this to say, my career as an art educator greatly influences the work I make. I did not start painting the way I do until after I began teaching. Currently, I I am interested in free form lines and their ability to create beauty through layering and repetition. Most human made designs-architectural and textile-are infallibly symmetrical. However, natural and anatomical shapes are never perfectly balanced. Humans are crooked. Flowers are uneven. In my work, I contrast organic shapes with symmetrical patterning. I consider my paintings non-objective because most of the imagery is non-representational; however, organic forms reminiscent of the natural world do emerge. I occasionally sneak in something recognizable like a portrait or inanimate object. Whenever sections of my painting feel disconnected, I let washes drip through wet paint, pulling pigment across my canvas to literally connect segments. I rarely wash my brushes well so that parts of a previous hue are always mixed in with the next. I find this helps me limit my color palette and keeps tones muted as well. I juxtapose earth tones with synthetically colorful pops of paint. When working, I try to dive into a subconscious state, trusting muscle memory and painting as intuitively as possible. I typically paint many layers of intertwining patterns, creating a strata like composition. I don’t like my work until I’ve painted over it multiple times. The ability to dislike and later fall in love with something based on its layers is remarkable. I suppose human beings can be like this too- more beautiful with the layers they expose.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
To best support artists, art needs to be valued and appreciated by all. I teach Art Appreciation, the only fine arts 1 semester course at the public school where I work. All students need 1 semester of fine arts to graduate. I love my students but they do not all begin my class appreciating visual art or its history. My goal is to change their minds by the end of the semester through discussions and activities. I like to think I win most of them over, or rather, visual art does. Hopefully these humans will create ripple effects and continue to instill an appreciation and awareness of the arts in those around them.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
We get to make stuff. I believe everyone should make stuff, whether that is food, music, art, performance, etc., but not all people do or have the resources or time to do so. Imagine what sort of world we would live in if every human had a creative outlet that they were encouraged by society to pursue. I also think art brings people together. Artists are putting a bit of themselves into their work and sharing this very vulnerable thing that most likely took them years and years to tap into, and that is beautiful.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @wajbart