BILL BUCHMAN

Art has the power to transport us beyond our everyday experience. It is a way for us to discover new possibilities and unexpected revelations. While my work draws inspiration from the world of music, the actual “how” of my painting comes from the world of Zen. Each painting is a spiritual voyage whose goal is to bring to light what can only be seen, at first, with the inner eye. My thought takes form in paint using the ingredients of color, line, form and texture as primary expressive tools. I push against boundaries and at the same time I seek equilibrium. My figurative and abstract work nourish one another. In my figures I explore the expanse that lies between abstraction and representation in order to reveal the music of body and spirit. In my abstracts the brush dances between freedom and control  as I strive to translate my innermost experience into something lyrical and potent.”

Bill Buchman is a popular and prolific artist whose expressive work draws on his extensive musical background. He is known for his abstractions, characterized as “symphonies of space, form and color” and his figures, described as ” lightning bursts of energy condensed into a fine line”.

As a lifelong student of Eastern and Western metaphysical thought, Bill’s paintings and drawings combine Dadaist and Taoist poetic ideas with the expressiveness of the Zen gesture to create compositions and figures which offer a paradox: the works are bold and assertive yet their openness invites viewers to imagine their own stories. He studied painting and drawing with well-known teachers Victor D’Amico, at the Institute of Modern Art, East Hampton, NY and Fletcher Martin at the Albany Institute of Art, in Albany, NY. Bill attended Cornell University, School of Fine Arts, studying with abstract expressionist Robert Richenburg. Bill has a Bachelor’s Degree and a Master’s Degree from the New England Conservatory of Music as well. Before moving in 2001 to Sarasota, Florida, Bill worked and exhibited his paintings for twenty years in Europe primarily in Scandinavia. His works may be seen in private and public collections in the US, Denmark, Sweden, and England. Accomplished as an artist, educator, author and jazz pianist, Bill, along with exhibiting his work and performing frequently, gives workshops and seminars on creativity, abstraction and figure drawing. His five DVD’s on these subjects and his innovative book, “Expressive Figure Drawing” (Random House 2010) are quite popular. With his unique musical “Zen” approach, Bill has been spreading delight and inspiring many people for many decades.

Figure 1

Mixed Media on Paper 24″ x 18″

Figure 2

Mixed Media on Paper 24″ x 18″

Figure 3

Mixed Media on Canvas 24″ x 18″

Nardis

Oil & Acrylic on Canvas 48″ x 60″

Resonance

Oil & Acrylic on Canvas 52″ x 72″

Untitled

Oil & Acrylic on Panel 24″ x 41″