Interview
Joel Bowers
Joel Bowers was born in Billings, Montana. His formal education ended at Montana State University in 1969 with a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering. After successful careers as an engineer, a manager, and an independent computer consultant, he is currently working as a self-employed digital artist, creating new digital artwork daily since 2016.
He discovered, in grad school, during a wheel-thrown pottery class, that he was more interested in creating things than in the common engineering projects. The Army, Vietnam, and the need to start earning a living once out of the service took him 20 years down the corporate technical road.
As a self-trained artist, he does not have the training and mindset standard for many artists. Without the strong beliefs about what makes good art, he is more open to exploring wildly abstract ideas and images. You will seldom find comparable work since the foundation is an innovation out of the quantum foam.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“I am a retired world traveler with a broad perspective. I hold engineering degrees and have used computer tools since their inception. I spent 20 years traveling and working in the corporate world. Then, for 15 years, I designed screens for the databases I created for hundreds of clients in my self-employed consulting business.
I occasionally sketched and I excelled in a pottery-turning class. Traveling the world elevated my limited formal art education by exposure to a multitude of first-rate museums and other sources of inspiration, such as architecture, nature, and people in diverse environments. When I retired, I took oil painting classes and joined a drawing atelier. I completed the Montana Artrepreneur Program (MAP), a 30-credit-hour (think double-major) business development program for artists. MAP spurred me in 2016 to begin assiduously creating digital works, which presently number over 8,000.”
“I seldom take a familiar path to create a painting. I relish exploring the array of digital tools available in a wide variety of digital art applications. My aim is to entertain the largest audience possible with my expanding skills and tools. The digital approach gives me freedom from the traditional costs of materials, storage space, and sales requirements.”
How would you describe your work?
“Unrestrainedly abstract and changing like the camouflage of an octopus in the tidal zone. I have not yet explored working on pieces that take days, weeks, or months to produce. At this time, I am more interested in efficiently creating multiple works per week and in daily sharing of results - both good and bad - to help me grow into a better artist.”
Which artists influence you most?
“I have not come from an art background or education on the techniques of famous artists, but I am attracted to the unusual. I am more energized by those who infuse their work with unique, exciting differences from quotidian perspectives than I am by those who focus on making ‘realistic’ art.”
What is your creative process like?
“I sometimes start with a photo I’ve taken and manipulate it nearly beyond recognition. More often, I begin with a new idea, tool, or application, and explore it until the result’s appearance interests me and feels complete. I focus more on the process than in achieving any expected outcome. So most of my works are surprises rather than executions of blueprints.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“This is the area where I think I have the most to contribute. Art in the past was limited to standard creation techniques, and could be photographed and shared with a wide audience. But without the involvement of professional photographers, the digitally-shared quality of the work suffers. Digital painting is more efficient because its elements - ex., brush type, colors, substrates - can change instantly without cleanup/setup. The costs, beyond costs of some applications, are nil. These two factors allow more practice time and share time, eventually providing greater value to humanity.”
“I am moved by patterns, bright colors, and great compositions. Most painters’ styles that help them create reputation and gather collectors are not as engaging as the exploratory variety of which the creators are capable. Moreover, novelty is healthy for cognitive function.”
Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?
“As a fairly new painter, I have focussed on digital exhibitions. Waterworks Art Museum in Miles City, Montana gave me an award for my submitted painting. The City of Billings, Montana bought the rights to wrap a signal box (at the corner of two main arteries) in one of my paintings. I share daily to 5 social media platforms and my www.risingrimsarts.com website. I occasionally mint NFT versions of my work on OpenSea and Crypto.com/nft. I will mint more of my work as interest rises.”
Website: www.risingrimsarts.com
Instagram: @risingabstracts
