Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Wil Bosbyshell. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I received a BFA from the University of Georgia, and spent six years as an officer in the US Army following my undergraduate education. After a decade in business, I was awarded a residency at the Hungarian Multicultural Center in Budapest, which set the course for my artistic career. I am a studio artist at the Charlotte Art League, and have been an arts professor for close to two decades at both the former Art Institute of Charlotte and Rowan/Cabarrus Community College.
My work has been shown in numerous gallery and community exhibitions, both solo and collective, including the McColl Center, Shain Gallery, Central Piedmont Community College, and Elder Gallery, where my participation in the 2018 group exhibition ‘Vicarious’ received critical acclaim from the New York Times.
My watercolor paintings were featured in Watercolor Magazine, and have been highlighted in numerous other publications both locally and regionally. My art can be found in dozens of private and corporate collections locally and nationally. I am dedicated to community service, with a particular focus on youth, and serve on various boards and leadership positions, including for Scouts and a Group Living Housing Corporation at the University of Georgia.
My art is rooted in a love for the natural environment, and our intimate but often unconscious relationship with it. My ongoing observation and time amidst both urban and natural landscapes allows me to center my practice on honoring and protecting the world, while simultaneously paying homage to the beauty it provides.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
My particular fascination with trees lies in my belief that trees are not proverbial abstract things but individual, living beings with personalities and stories to tell. Bringing those stories into a daily consciousness is at the heart of my drawings. I am fascinated on the interaction between the texture of the bark, the natural design of the limbs and the depiction of scars left by time and weather. The drawings in my current series are complex so I can achieve an asymmetrical balance that stimulates our minds and invites us to develop our personal relationship with trees. I hope my drawings leaded to greater understanding of their importance in the ecosystem and the spiritual place they hold in the world.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I have drawn all my life. In kindergarten, I drew dinosaurs instead of learning my ABCs and failed 2nd grade as a result. My teachers bribed me to study Monday through Thursday by promising to let me draw all day Friday. I turned my artistic focus to pencil drawing in the past two years during the virus. Everything seemed so overwhelming due to the virus, paring down to just pencil and graphite allowed me to continue my art during the pandemic. Pencil helps me capture the different textures of the trees in my Climate Conversation series.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bosbyshellartstudio.com
- Instagram: @wilbosbyshell
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wil.bosbyshell/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wilbosbyshell/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/WBosbyshell
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/wilbosbyshell
- Other: Blog: https://bosbyshellart.blogspot.com/