Random is Beautiful

Bill Scheel has been both a carpenter and artist throughout his life, but most recently he has become more serious in his artistic painting endeavors.  His art is abstract.  It reflects his strong interest in randomness, a topic he has pursued over his entire academic career in both research and consulting.  He developed an abstract art technique modeled after the work of Jackson Pollack.   It is dependent upon and visually consisting of random coloration and imagery.  The work seems to “sprout” outside the painting and take on a life of its own.

All of us have been struck by beauty in a kaleidoscope.  It is dependent entirely on random processes as we twist the scope and fragments of glass where random borders interact with mirrors to produce an image.  And, in a similar manner, the coloration and form of paint strokes depends on many factors, including randomness.  This is entirely the case when the paint is moved by an air compressor. 

Bill’s art is his tools and technique. He uses an air compressor, sticks, water sprayer and air compressor to paint.  It is rendered on both 2 and 3 dimensional surfaces.  All of his work hangs; but it involves many sculptural aspects.  He embeds objects crafted primarily from wood using scrolling saw and spindle sander. He does all his own framing and considers the frame to be an integral and permanent part of his art.  Bill uses only water-based paints and stains.

Randomness dominates the work.  It arises both from air dynamics of the compressor’s high speed air jet and the blending of paint colors as the jet sweeps across the paint surfaces. 

The artist orchestrates this process, but the serendipity of randomness reveals the beauty of the art.

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