Joe Bachelor Art

Several years ago, my wife and I were able to join my daughter and the San Luis Obispo Academy of Dance on a cultural exchange tour where they performed in 5 historic venues in Beijing, Nanjing, Suzhou, Wuxi and Shanghai

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Traveling to these historic cities provided living cultural experiences as well as the inspiration for a series of paintings. The "active" Urban and Industrial scenes were stimulating, but at times overwhelming. I was therefore grateful for the quiet "passive" moments in the timeless Gardens.

The blending of these "active and passive" experiences enhanced my ability to equally capture the beauty of a lotus pond and a street vendor's booth. The original series of oil paintings were included in a successful one man exhibition at the McConnell Gallery in San Luis Obispo.

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I have revisited my original images of China, creating digital studies which will be the basis for for a new series of large scale oil paintings. My goal is to imbue these paintings with the fluidity of a more mature style gained through decades of painting experience.