Joe Bishop

I have been in a wheelchair all my life and am unable to speak. I With the assistance of adaptive equipment, I have been oil painting now for several years, taking classes in Colorado at Pikes Peak Community College and at CSU-Pueblo and earning a BFA in 2014. Painting has become an important part of my life. It gives me a voice, an identity, and a pathway to the world. It allows me to give something to the community and enables me to reach out to people and connect with them. Through my art, I can share my ideas and thoughts with others. I also enjoy the physical act of painting – the sensory input it gives me. I hope to be able to keep growing as an artist by developing my skills and learning new techniques. I am especially interested in capturing motion, like waves or fire, in my art. I am interested in the metaphor of “people in bottles”, which represents the way I feel at times – stuck in my own body. My own human condition is where I come from in my art; however I also enjoy the interplay between all humans and the environment at large. In my art, I enjoy exploring colors and opposites, as well as experimenting with putting a concept into a visual image. For me, painting is more than just a job or a hobby; it has become my way of life.