Today we’d like to introduce you to eric beal.
Hi eric, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I have tried to convey feeling and emotions through my artwork for as long as I can remember. Having grown up in the relatively artsy town of Denton, TX, I was able to artistically explore myself through my years in public schooling. My parents had a difficult divorce when I was 6, so I found refuge in art as a way for me to fully invest my attention into making something. While I was finding success in the work I was creating – making a print that hung in the state capitol – I was encouraged to focus on science instead as I went off to college.
While pursuing a biology degree, I started experimenting with different painting techniques in my free time, eventually landing on spray paint as my preferred medium. I began to study street art as a means to share a message with a much more general audience. I quickly moved from tagging to stencils and started learning how to layer paint so that a more vivid image could come through by cutting old movie posters I had saved up. But all of this was just a hobby, as I was ultimately aimed towards becoming a doctor.
After graduating college, I worked in medical research in Houston in the hopes of delaying entry to medical school. I struggled to accept that I was not going to be happy following this path that others had wanted for me. My now wife and I decided that I should take the time I needed to re-figure what I should do instead. Luckily, some great work opportunities popped up for my wife, taking us to Tokyo for a few years before we moved to Los Angeles in 2017.
Once in LA, I was able to find freelance work that gave me enough time to explore how I wanted to grow personally and creatively. I decided that I should jump into art as a career rather than a hobby near the end of 2019. I wanted to find a theme to my artwork that was deeply personal but shared a larger message. I started painting subjects of political situations – immigration, global warming – that were society-wide but ended up affecting individuals. The pandemic began to take hold right as I was beginning to work on building a body of work. As freelance gigs started to dry up, I began filling that void with art and soon found an audience that resonated with my pieces.
I now create stenciled paintings on canvas and have begun painting murals in 2023. With experiences like showing work at Art Week Miami and painting a mural for a gallery on Melrose, I’m finally feeling like I’ve found happiness for myself.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Nothing artistic ever feels like it goes smoothly. Whenever I’m busy, I feel like my brain is constantly stressing over the details. And whenever I finish a piece, I immediately feel like I’m not doing enough. Those are mental hurdles to overcome. Finding community in other local artists really helps me realize how to get out of my own way and just create.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Borrowing from my print-making days in high school and combining that with my love for street art, I paint limited edition canvas works with spray paint and stencils. Since stencil street art works the same way, by throwing up the same piece multiple times in different spots, I wanted to create works of the same subject that would then hang in different locations when bought. This way, I can spread the message more broadly and keep the works at an accessible price. Each piece has its own custom drawn, cut, and destroyed stencil making every work completely unique. So far, I’ve created completely new paintings for my mural work, but plan on expanding some of my canvas pieces onto walls.
I also co-founded The Artscene with Lisa Marc, a journal of the contemporary art world, discovering new artists and cultures by sharing their stories. The Artscene supports working artists in their pursuit to create by sharing their work, visions, and stories with audiences in different languages, cultures, and countries, to maximize accessibility. The Artscene empowers people to express creativity in any art form, whether a beginner or professional, by sharing their work and stories in whatever medium helps their art shine the brightest.
My proudest moment was at Art Week Miami, where I was showing a few paintings in a group show. A couple was looking at my painting titled love me, love me not that depicts a worm’s eye view of a rose juxtaposed next to a methane flaring rig typical of an oil extraction site. The couple turned to me and said they were visiting from Peru. Then they said, “To me, this is the most important painting in the world.” I’ll always cherish that moment because I was able to so deeply share my message with someone from a different place and culture.
I’m not interested in creating work about myself. I want to create work that is about all of us.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Advice that I would give to anyone, in art or otherwise, is to reach out to others. It is so easy now to send emails or DMs to people that are doing what you want to do. The worst that is going to happen is you might not hear back from them. The best is that you could find a mentor to show you how they successfully work. That and showing up on time.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ericbealart.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ericbealart/
- Other: https://theartscene.com/
