B. Clyde Beck | San Jose, California USA
As a small child, B. Clyde Beck's mother taught him how to draw and to paint with watercolor. Instead of just splashing or scribbling she coached him into making the pencils and paint look like something, yet with an individual expression. At age 12 he received a box camera for Christmas and started experimenting with photography. Since that time he has drawn, painted, and photographed nature, places, animals and sometimes people. Looking for the extra-ordinary in the ordinary his work seeks to convey the essence of what is seen and the spirit of the moment it represents. Whether great and rugged mountains or bright sunrises, animals, people in everyday walk of life, flowers, or "just some rocks and leaves" there is a story behind what is represented before your eyes. His formal education includes study at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY. Beyond formal education, B. Clyde Beck has worked and experimented with various art media and photographic materials throughout his lifetime. He has listened well to other established artists who have taken the time to critique, share their wisdom, suggest techniques, and simply encourage him.
His passion is that his art will make a difference in the world. He hopes to accomplish this on several levels. One is to produce art that depicts something about the world we live in from a positive beauty standpoint in hopes that people will begin to see: That there is something greater to life than having more possessions, or a beautiful home (that cuts deep as Mr. Beck is a really good architect who helps people realize their dreams); but to foster some sense of the wonder and grandeur of the world, of why life is to be valued and to point to a real hope of true peace for the future.
Yet another level for his art is to make the proceeds of sales of his art available to organizations that feed the hungry, clothe the poor and do works of rehabilitation of peoples lives. To this end he gives to organizations and charities that have as their goal to not only help people in an emergency, but work with them and refocus them into a hope for their own future. Organizations that do this help people rebuild their lives by showing the way out of poverty, to retrain for higher paying or different skill sets to get jobs. To show the youth that poverty or selfishness is not their destiny and move them into a future where they begin to take responsibility for their lives and do something constructive with it.
