BOB ARMSTRONG FINE ART
  • Home
  • Carvings
  • Carving Archives
  • Abstracts
  • Events
  • Contact
  • About
  • Blog
  • Shop

                                                                                                                       

Picture
*A word on why I do what I do:
Since I have lived in San Francisco for my entire life, my paintings are deeply influenced by the beauty of the Bay Area. In the city I find captivating green spaces, from parks to cracks in the sidewalk, as nature insists on its presence amidst the concrete and steel. I also travel several times a year to state and national parks throughout the West, and find constant inspiration in their stunning beauty.
 
My art celebrates this beautiful world through hand carving on wood panels, because this organic material transports us directly into nature.  It is both fundament and inspiration for my carved paintings. In them, I play with three elements: pattern, texture, and color. This VIDEO will also give you some insight into my motivations.**
 
I begin with a careful drawing of a lovely plant or flower, then create an original pattern that relates to it. I place those designs into distinct sections on the panel, and begin to carve. The carving gives my pieces compelling texture, and those sections play off one another as balances of positive patterns and negative shapes. The poet Pablo Neruda helped me understand the importance of texture: “Blossom and water and wheat kernel share one precious consistency: the sumptuous appeal of the tactile.”
 
Carving and design are critical in my work, but color plays an equally important role. With it, I reference the hues of the flowers, the seasons, and the patterns ever present in nature. I employ a minimalist aesthetic, engaging the eye with monochromatic color harmonies ranging from subtle grays to vivid, saturated color. I also employ graphite, because I enjoy its metallic richness and chameleon optical qualities. My work also alludes to Japanese art, with its insistence on grace and compositional beauty. Carving, design, painting and graphite combine for a collective effect that guides us on a meditative journey into nature that calms and inspires.
 

There is, as well, an unspoken but very real environmental aspect to this work. The importance of of preserving and enhancing our natural environment is perhaps the most pressing issue  today. The world we live in needs protecting, and by emphasizing its beauty, I hope to call attention not only to what we have but what we risk losing.

**For more insight into how and why I do art, and if you did not already view it, please see this VIDEO mentioned above, done by Shuntaro Ogata and Curtis Tom. My thanks to them both.


I'm a San Franciscan, and a member of the Artists Guild of San Francisco. You can visit that website at: http://www.artistsguildsf.com.

I'm also a member of ArtSpan, the SF Open Studios organization. You can visit my work at their site at: http://www.artspan.org/artist/bobarmstrong

I have a studio at the Hunters Point Shipyard. You can visit my work at
their site at
https://www.shipyardartists.com/artist/bob-armstrong/



RESUME

Education:

University of California, Berkeley - AB
Massachusetts College of Art
Hochschule der Kunst, West Berlin

 
Recent Exhibition History:
May 2022 (yearly since 2005) - Hunters Point Shipyard Spring Open Studios
November - December 2021 - Radius Gallery, Missoula, MT - Holiday Group Show

October 2021 (yearly since 2005) - Fall Open Studios - Hunters Point Shipyard Artists
July 2021 - SFWA Gallery "Verdant" (group show)
April 2021 - Hunters Point Shipyard Spring Virtual Open Studios
March 2021 - SFWA Gallery "Patterns and Symmetry" (group show) : HIllary Olcott - juror, Associate Curator, Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, Fine Art Museums of San Francisco
March 2021 - Marin Society of Artists "Artists Vision 2021" (virtual group show)
December 2020 - Hunters Point Shipyard Virtual Holiday Market
September 2020 - ArtSpan and Hunters Point Shipyard Virtual Open Studios
September 2020 - The Mission Kiss (Public Art Project, Mission District, SF)
May - June 2020 - Marin Society of Artists "Expressions 2020" ( virtual group show)
February - May 2020 - Arc Gallery "48 Pillars 2020", SF (group show)
December 2019 - Heartfelt Pop-up Show, SF (group show)
October 2019 (yearly since 2005) - SOMARTS Gallery Fall Open Studio ArtSpan Exhibit
May 2019 - Drawing Room Gallery (solo show)
May 2019 (yearly since 2005) - Spring Open Studios - Hunters Point Shipyard Artists
January 2019 - Lola's of San Francisco (solo show)


Commissions, Residencies and Public Art Engagement:
2022
Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, purchase of an original carved painting
2021
Accepted for Alameda County Arts Commission’s Artist Registry
2021
Artist Residency - Taft Nicholson Center Artist in Residence Program, Centennial Valley, Montana, Ju
ly 5-20
2021

Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, purchase of 3 original carved paintings, Gonda Building
2020
Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, purchase of 3 original carved paintings
Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, purchase of original carved painting
2019
Accepted for SF Art Commission Pre-qualified Artist Pool, 2019-20
2018
CPMC St. Luke’s Mission/Bernal Hospital Campus, purchase of original carved painting
CPMC Van Ness Hospital Campus, purchase of three images of carved paintings reproduced digitally on glass for murals
SF Art Commission Southeast Health Center Expansion Art Project- finalist for glass partition design
2016
“Arts Alive Ingleside” banner for Ocean Avenue, sponsored by OMI & SF Office of Economic and Workforce Development


Outdoor Shows:
1996 to 2019 - Artists Guild of San Francisco (bimonthly)
2011 to 2016 - Castro Street Fair

Publications:
American Art Collector, Book 1, Western United States-October 2006, October 2007, October 2008
 
Private Collections:
Robert Metzler, Macy’s
Anand Dutra, Deutsche Bank and Trust (Assistant Director)
Further exhibition and patron listings are available upon request.

                                                                                Bob Armstrong (c) 2022

  • Home
  • Carvings
  • Carving Archives
  • Abstracts
  • Events
  • Contact
  • About
  • Blog
  • Shop