James Beech

I studied at the Philadelphia Museum College of Art, The School of Visual Arts in New York, the Burlington Cultural Center Burlington Ontario, and Sheridan College, Oakville Ontario Canada.  My background was primarily in graphic design. I began working in watercolors in 1957.  Later I moved to Orange County, NY.  In 1991 my family and I moved to Florida and now reside in Punta Gorda.  I am presently a board member of the Charlotte County Visual Art Center.  I am also a member of the Charlotte County Arts and Humanities Council, the Florida Watercolor Society, the FSWS, and an associate member of the NWs and AWS.  I teach basic to intermediate watercolor and a free veteran’s basic art course at the Visual Art Center.  In a prior life I owned my own advertising agency and through the years was privileged to work on such accounts as Volkswagen, Mercedes Benz, Volvo, Monsanto, Degussa, Becton-Dickinson, and many more.  I worked on the styling for the first portable phone, first electric golf cart, and first automatic pipette for Becton Dickinson.

My work encompasses anything I feel might suggest a story and get the viewer involved.  I want viewers to see something that makes them feel an emotion; preferably a good or warm feeling.  I want their imagination to help create a sense of having been there or wishing they could go there.  Some paintings might make the viewer feel a little sad at some of my old barns, houses, and buildings or it may bring back a memory of the past.

I keep a small studio at home in Punta Gorda where you can see more of my paintings.  You can see other paintings visit beechartstudio.com or artspan.com.