An exciting new Gallery/Studio artists’ space, Anne Bedrick Fine Art, has opened on Perez Road in Cathedral City!
The Art and Design District on Perez Road in Cathedral City has long been known to be “Where Art Lives” with its second Saturday art walks and open studio events. Within the H, I, and M buildings one can find art galleries, artist’s studios, and unique home furnishing stores, occupying large converted warehouse spaces.
Throughout history, and all around the world, artists have intermingled with other types of businesses in industrial areas because of the affordable rents and large spaces. With its industrial sized spaces, Perez Road is no exception and is quickly becoming the Soho of the Coachella Valley.
It’s newest arrival, Anne Bedrick Fine Art, in the I Building, Unit I26, currently showcases the work of the two artists who paint in the back studios, Anne Bedrick and Joe Shoemaker.
Anne Bedrick, an artist from New York, transplanted to the desert only recently and is living in Palm Springs, CA. Bedrick, a self-taught painter, works in oil paint and cold wax. Unlike encaustic, which uses heat, cold wax - a medium that looks remarkably like Crisco - is used at room temperature and simply mixed with oil paint. By using it both thickly and thinly, textures can be crafted at the same time that transparencies are created, allowing Bedrick to produce the rich surfaces that her work is known for.
After years of teaching art to children, Bedrick has absorbed their immediacy of material and of working in the moment. Raw energy and intuition guide her initial compositions and color choices, while cold wax surprises her with its varying nature, encouraging playful explorations. Thoughtful adjustments follow, as she listens to the conversations of this color or texture next to that one, until she finds the visual equivalent of UMAMI: the savory flavor created from the perfect blend of messy vs. neat, quiet vs. loud, transparent vs. opaque, and bright vs. dull. Calm passages and fluid marks amidst subtle color shifts, reference the subconscious, outside of literal meanings. As she builds layers and pares them back down, colors consort and negotiate for space, creating joyful energetic compositions that are a place of sanctuary; a place to stop, to take a mindful moment, to actually see the essence of each shape, color, and texture as they are.
In addition to being an artist, Bedrick is an art educator. She first taught art to adults and then to children for a total of 30 years. Bedrick is the author of the interactive eBook, Choice Without Chaos, was founder and Co-President of the National Art Education Association’s special interest group Choice-Art Educators, and is a public speaker who presents nation-wide about the value of student-directed learning.
Even though she just moved here in mid-April, Bedrick has sought out opportunities to get involved locally. In addition to running the gallery portion of Anne Bedrick Fine Art, she currently leads the artist critique group for members of the Artists Council at the Galen Museum on the second Thursday of every month, organizes their art book discussion club on the third Tuesday of every month and offers occasional workshops in her studio on painting abstractly with cold wax medium.
Joe Shoemaker, also a recent transplant who currently lives in Palm Springs, is originally from Central Indiana. A 6th Generation Hoosier, Joe and his partner Heather (and their two dogs) made a permanent move to Palm Springs in 2018 to forever escape the frigid and gray Indiana winters…not to mention the swampy, humid, bug-riddled summer months.
Joe is in his 19th year as an accomplished real estate professional, and he proudly represents Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty in the Coachella Valley. He’s excited to expand the expertise he developed in representing owners and purchasers of Modern and Contemporary Architecture, and there’s no better place on the planet to do so than in Palm Springs and the surrounding cities.
His painting work is primarily a therapeutic exercise and an opportunity to explore color and texture in sometimes subtle, and other times unambiguous, ways. Often switching from his naturally dominant right hand to his non-dominant left hand, the loose approach is built on the absolute freedom to experiment, play, edit, experiment again…all the while knowing that there are NO mistakes in the process. In fact, the process is the most important aspect of his painting and other art-making practices allowing for pure creative freedom, a lack of rigid techniques and methods, an awareness that there is no way to fail when the process is the focus, and a radical acceptance of all results regardless of the final piece’s outcome. “Trust the Process” and “Focus on Quantity and Quality will take care of itself” are his two operative mantras in the studio.
Anne Bedrick Fine Art will have its grand opening event on October 12, 2019 from 6-9pm. All are invited to come peruse the abstract paintings while enjoying some food, drinks, and live music by Joe Croyle. (Croyle's easy solo style is clearly his own. Smooth yet vocally dynamic, his range and phrasing are reminiscent of the late great Mel Tormé.)
Anne Bedrick Fine Art is an exciting new addition to the Perez Road Art and Design District. Open Wednesday – Saturday from 11am-3pm, it is not only a wonderful place to see art, but they also offer
- Free delivery anywhere within the Coachella Valley
- Virtual art hanging; send a photo of your room and they will virtually hang some pieces to help you find the one that makes your home or office feel just right
- Commissions; you choose the size and colors and leave the rest up to them
- Classes; come learn to paint abstractly with oil paint and cold wax medium
Contact Anne Bedrick for more information anne@annebedrick.com