Shabs Beigh: Seek And You Shall Find
I was in Chicago to exhibit with The Other Art Fair by Saatchi in 2018 — One morning, rather than staying at my hotel, I decided to go to The Art Institute of Chicago. I was there to see a collection of impressionist and post-impressionist works, but wasn’t aware of the details of the collection that they had there.
Van Gogh’s work and life (a post-impressionist) interest me. Years ago, I had seen this green painting by Van Gogh; a painting that I hoped I would bump into someday, somewhere without knowing where it was in the world. Strolling through the Impressionist gallery after seeing the Haystacks by Monet, I turn the corner and there it was (the green Van Gogh) and i jumped with joy like a kid. I stood there discussing it with someone from Liverpool, who was in love with this painting the same as me. I truly loved it. I walked thinking: seek and you do find.
Time passed and I was back in England exhibiting at The Manchester Art Fair and I stopped a gentleman who looked like a serious art buyer. We got talking and he introduced me to the idea of painting the Birkenhead park. He became a collector of my works. I went and saw the park and realised it was the inspiration behind the central park of New York. So, I painted the Birkenhead park in an impressionist manner. I realised only after reading a book about impressionists that being in love with that green painting of Van Gogh has influenced me, without me being aware of it.
So here are the four green paintings which were born out of love for Van Gogh’s green painting. One of them was inspired by walks by a canal in Nottingham, and the other was that of Birkenhead park. The third one is inspired by Bodnant Gardens in North Wales, and the last one (the river bed and the trees hanging) was inspired by a walk along the banks of River Wharf in Wetherby.
https://www.artic.edu/artworks/14586/the-poet-s-garden
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/bodnant-garden
https://www.wirral.gov.uk/leisure-parks-and-events/parks-and-open-spaces/birkenhead-park
#BodnantGardens #Birkenhead #BirkenheadPark #Rivers #RiverWharf #Painting #Art #Artist #WallArt #ModernArt #Commission
