bryanboutwell

Profile

Age: 32
City: Liverpool
Country: United States

Joined: Feb 2009

My name is Bryan Matthew Boutwell and I have been a professional working artist for almost a solid decade now. I work in 5 different mediums; photography, painting, sculpture, audio & video production, and poetry. In the last 5 years I have produced 3 spoken word/underground hip-hop albums for myself while producing 10 other recording artists albums. I have worked with Rap Artists, R&B Artists, Jazz Artists, Country Artists, Operatic Artists, and New Age Artists.
I also create short independent films and video. A few of my projects have been; producing a film based off of my art teaching experiences while working with inner city kids, numerous music videos, abstract photography and video accompanied by music and sound, weddings, a behind the scenes poetry slam and the story of one poet’s drive to compete on a national level, and more.
I love to write, especially poetry and short stories. I have been published with 5 different publications in the past in regards to my poetry, but I am for the first time in the process of writing my first novel based off of my own life experience. The book is focused on the desires and conflicts that occur when an artist tries to live financially off of one’s own imagination and creativity.
I love to paint. Last year alone I created 71 paintings ranging from 5ft x 5ft to 15ft x 40ft. I owned and operated a small fine arts gallery in downtown Syracuse NY where I showcased these paintings while showing 25 other visual artists work. Paintings have been what i consider the bread and butter of my income and expression. Painting is probably the most consistent medium of art in which I work and probably what I consider to be the most challenging. It is definitley the most subconscience of all the mediums I work in and this is why I believe why I am so attracted to its form of expression.
I went to school for photography and this medium was the first medium involving the arts that got me interested in all of the others that would come. I have always considered photography to be the most accurate and universal medium that touches the masses. I have shot model shoots for Goldwell Hair magazine, the grittiest of inner city life, abstract and trick photography, wedding and portrait photography, but out of all the photography I would have to say that photographing people from a distance in their normal day to day lives is where I find the most joy while working in this medium.
My sculpture is more like raised relief sculpture, or better yet explained as a 3D painting. I love starting to work off of a flat surface and continuing to build out. My sculptures use all elements including spray paint, metal, wood, found objects, and lighting effects. Out of all of the mediums I work in sculpture although the most inconsistent of all my mediums is by far the most fun for me when it does take place.
Besides my own personal artistic creations which I depend on to stay afloat as an independent working artist, I have also kept myself busy by teaching art as well. I have taught 5 mediums of art to 6th graders up through 12th grade for the last 10 years. In 2006 I wrote the Syracuse City School District’s after school arts education curriculum. I wrote the grants needed for funding, and I taught the 5 different mediums of art that took place in 2 of Syracuse’s middle schools. This by far was the most rewarding out of all my artistic endeavors. My classes were based off of the promotion of vulnrability and the importance of imagination and empathy for the world around us.
My life is art. It is my therapy, it is my drive, and it is all that I can ever see myself doing as a career no matter how hard it is to count on. I believe that using the imagination as a way to communicate is the most effective way to reveal ones self, ones confusion, and the best way to get to know another human being. I hope you enjoy my work and I would love to hear anything that you have to say about it!