Artist’s Statement

I am witness to the awe-inspiring and often unexpected beauty of nature, where light, color, and form meld into a scene that evokes an emotional response of peaceful brilliance––a snapshot wherein the true essence of place reveals itself for a brief moment.

I currently work in oil on canvas or wood in a variety of sizes, utilizing two techniques to give my work depth and movement ––I use Renaissance-style glazing for luminescence combined with painterly passages for an overall effect that echoes the profundity of nature’s beauty and life. I employ subtle hues of expressionistic color that are often deeper and brighter than those found in nature, which results in vibrant works that rival nature’s eye-catching scenes.

Through my landscapes, I recreate transcendent atmospheres that represent the nature that exists in both experience and imagination. My work conveys a timeless sense of place and mood that breathes life from the painting into the viewer.

Biography

Christopher Bechler, self-taught artist, excels in expressionistic watercolor and oil paintings, and bronze sculptures. He grew up in a family of artists on the eastern seaboard near Boston, and began painting as a child. In his twenties, he studied art in Germany under the tutelage of Richard Kuhn, an abstract expressionist. He continued his studies in Eugene, Oregon with Adam Grosowsky, expressionist, and Richard Quigley, surrealist.

Nature inspires Christopher’s paintings, but he draws more from his mind’s eye than from any given real landscape. His sculptures, on the other hand, present powerful non-representational, organic shapes that lend themselves to many interpretations with their innovative negative spaces.

Christopher exhibits his work in private and public venues on both coasts of the US. He is currently represented in Oregon by  William Rose Fine Art in Cannon Beach. He has paintings in private collections in the US and Germany. His awards include selection for the League of Innovation, and the Eugene Mayor’s Art Show, the Lane Community College Juror’s Award and the Lane Community College Best-in-Show Award.