Painter and print maker Joel Becktell has works in private collections internationally, and his works appear in juried exhibitions and galleries throughout the United States. He produces works in a wide range of sizes and styles, all inspired by his desire to represent the emotional as well as the visual effects of striking objects and places. Joel is also a concert cellist who has performed world-wide as soloist, ensemble member, and orchestra player for more than four decades. He has been a member of the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra in Columbus for 15 years. His studio art practice adds an important interpretive and creative element to his artistic experience.
Grove – Edition of 60
This is a linocut, a traditional type of print made by carving a design into a plate and then inking and pressing the plate onto paper. Each print in the edition is hand-pulled, numbered, and signed. Grove is an image that was inspired by the view outside my studio, which is situated just outside the bosque, or riparian forest, bordering the Rio Grande in central New Mexico. In the bright sunshine, the trees on the edge of the bosque shine brilliantly, while the interior of the forest behind them stays in mysterious shadow. This print is archivally mounted, matted, and ready to frame.
Fifteen Tulips – Edition of 60
This is a linocut, a traditional type of print made by carving a design into a plate and then inking and pressing the plate onto paper. Each print in the edition is hand-pulled, numbered, and signed. The spring of 2024 was unusually florid, at least in my experience. As winter ended, I was excited to see trees and flowers in bloom, a promising change of scene, but with a touch of winter melancholy clinging to them. Fifteen Tulips is available in two editions, one in black ink on white paper, just as it leaves the press, and a second that is individually printed as above, then individually hand-colored. Because each print in this edition is custom colored, there are variations from one print to the next. I observe the same basic color plan for the entire edition, but also enjoy adding slight variations from one print to the next. This print is archivally mounted, matted, and ready to frame.
Apple Orchard in Bloom – Edition of 60
This is a linocut, a traditional type of print made by carving a design into a plate and then inking and pressing the plate onto paper. Each print in the edition is hand-pulled, numbered, and signed. Apple Orchard in Bloom is a small souvenir of the sweet time of spring when the apple trees lining the field outside my studio blossom and promise a fall bounty – and lots of time in the kitchen making apple sauce. This print is archivally mounted, matted, and ready to frame.
Flower Paintings
Small paintings offer me a chance to focus closely on something that I’m thinking deeply about. The spring of 2024 found me eager, but not quite ready, for the end of winter. Sometimes the things that engage us are the most obvious, natural things that are still somehow surprising. I processed the riot of blossoms and flowers this spring with a series of contemplative paintings, not of particular flowers, but of archetypal flowers formed in my imagination. This is an original painting on prepared paper, archivally mounted, matted, and ready to frame.
Photography, Custom Framing, Art Gallery & Gifts 