Above Bill Glass Art Studio
Bill Glass Art Studio
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What role does art play in your life and in your work?
Recently, since Covid, I have seen my passion for painting as all-consuming. I start painting at 6am in my new glasshouse painting studio in the garden on most days then go to my architecture studio down the road. Most weekends I paint 12 hours a day. I find painting most meditative, and a great challenge. I have so much to learn to be anywhere near good enough.
When designing a space, do you have any guiding principles in choosing the artwork for it?
Good question. Avoid couchable art. By that I mean avoid choosing art that matches the fabric of the couch or sofa. At my hotels, I love to employ art that make guests wonder. Who is that? How does she fit into the picture? And then train the staff to learn and relate all the stories. An example of this is Lamarck University or JW Marriott in Phu Quoc!
Do you purchase to fit a space, or do you build a space around the artwork?
Both. Most of our hotels we build from scratch. Our art programmes are thought of simultaneously with the design of the architecture. The attention to and the time that we put into art makes a huge difference with our final hotel product. For some 30 years now I have employed five full-time artists to produce exactly what I want to use as art in my hotels.
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Above Renowned American landscape architect, architect, and interior designer Bill Bensley
Renowned American landscape architect, architect, and interior designer Bill Bensley
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I find painting most meditative, and it is a greatchallenge. I have so much to learn to be anywhere near good enough
- Artist Bill Bensley -
Is there any piece that stands out in your home?
We have a series of collections at home. My favourite collection is that of Rudolph Bonnet. This Dutch artist lived most of his life in Bali (1920s to 1970s) and he was a terrific draftsman of portraits. In the same genre, we collect Donald Friend, Auke Sonnega and Theo Meir. The works of these artists give me huge inspiration daily.
When did you start dedicating more time to paint?
About three years ago, I picked up the paintbrush under the instructions of my friend and painter Kate Spencer. It has only been since Covid started that I pretty much paint daily.
Where do you draw your inspirations from?
For many years now as an architect, I draw every day; so, the drafting of inanimate objects is easy. People, however, are the most difficult subjects to render properly and this is where I have placed my focus. I have done some 200+ portraits in the last three years in an effort to learn. I still struggle, but it is an enjoyable struggle. On the weekend I often have live models and friends join us to draw and have a laugh.
How would you describe your style and technique?
With my hotel designs, I take great pride in not having a particular style, as every hotel owner wishes to have a unique piece. At this stage in my art adventure, I am changing my inspiration every month. I have been influenced by Donald Friend, Diego Rivera, Hernan Bas and Matisse. I use pencil, marker, water colours, charcoal, acrylics, and oils. My smallest work is A4 and my biggest work to date is 6 metres x 3 metres... HUGE! That is a painting of Covid in outer space with aliens complaining as to our ineptitude for containing our viruses!
Do you have any archetypes or imagery that you are particularly drawn to, maybe elements that may appear in several of your artwork?
I am having a show at River City in August—actually, four shows in one. The first is about our common problems in the environment, racism and Covid. Second is a series of paintings and sketches of the kind peoples of Papua who moved me deeply. Finally, the last show is about the idiosyncratic behaviours of the LGBT community and is very light-hearted and funny! So, like my hotels, I relish in the surprise of it all.
Above Bill Bensley's ' I Could Murder A Beer Right Now'
Bill Bensley's ' I Could Murder A Beer Right Now'
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Photo 1 of 2 All They Had to Do Was Stay at Home and Watch TV
Photo 2 of 2 Jirachais Nursery; Paradise in Papua
All They Had to Do Was Stay at Home and Watch TV
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How do you see yourself evolving as an artist?
My goal is to master the rendering of the human body and continue with primarily figurative art ... but there are so many avenues to explore, and I want to know the whole metropolis!
Please share with us details of some of your paintings.
Paradise in Papua, 2x2m acrylic, from a watercolour sketch done in Papua, December 2019 It is the fragility of the world underseas that moves me. It is the enormous and seemingly unnecessary diversity that moves me. It is the artistry/the graphic arts / the sometimes-ridiculous gymnastics that the evolutionary process takes to create a species for a finite environmental niche.
From unicorn fish to clowns to trigger fish to damsel fish to fusilier fish in their fabulous blue and yellow, to box fish (so ugly and weird, why would any fish want to mate with them?) to needle fish (now, there is a weird being!). The debate of diving or snorkelling is a fierce one on our Kudanil Explorer. I took a quick beginner’s dive course from on board the Dive Master and where Sunshine Man of the Universe
Jason Friedman explained the basics of diving to me. In a nutshell, I understand that if I come up from the depths too fast, I could have a heart attack or stroke. Well, who the F- wants that??? I will keep on snorkelling as that is where the magic of ocean can be seen relatively safely. All They Had to Do Was Stay at Home and Watch TV, a four-panel, 3m x 6m painting, 2020.
This is a painting of Covid having reached outer space. On the left you can see the aliens overlooking this scene and complaining about humanity’s deep ineptitude. The skies are dark from the pollution that we cause to seep out of our atmosphere and filled with this eerie Covid spreading, one of many viruses we have not contained. The alliances think to themselves, as they look down on earth, that all those humans had to do was sit at home and watch tv... This was painted in May when America was spiralling out of control, as it continues to do, and Thailand had emerged from a strict lockdown Covid-free.
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This story was originally published in Tatler Homes Philippines Vol. 28. Download it for free onMagzter
