“Pacific Squalls”
An Exhibition of Paintings by Bill Beck
August 1-9, 2025
Opening Reception: Friday, August 1 (5-7pm)
Gallery Hours:
August 2,3, 9 (11am-1pm)
and by appointment
Local artist, sailor, and St. James parishioner, Bill Beck will have a selection of his works on view at St. James GALLERY by-the-Sea in La Jolla August 1st through August 9th. The exhibition is entitled Pacific Squalls, its inspiration being a recent sailboat voyage in the Pacific.
Beck says, “My impetus for this project was a sail across the Pacific in a 37-foot sailboat. Our team spent a month at sea, racing from LA to Honolulu, and then a much longer sail returning to San Diego. The trip was full of strong imagery with emotional attachments to both the joy and stress that offshore weather brings to the sailor. My paintings in this exhibition range from squalls to passive seas, both realistic and abstracted… all in an attempt to capture the raw and elemental nature of sailing so far offshore”.
Bill is a trained engineer with a lifelong passion for painting. “I grew up in an artistic home with a fine artist for a grandfather. In high school I had the luck of being a studio assistant to Ellsworth Kelly which was life shaping in honing my eye and connection with abstract and contemporary art. I’ve studied at Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts and at Boston University. More recently I have had much support and mentoring from Jeff Yeomans, who has moved me forward in many dimensions, and has helped me plug into the San Diego art community.
The Opening Reception to meet the artist will take place on Friday, August 1st, from 5 until 7 pm at St. James GALLERY by-the- Sea (743 Prospect Street, La Jolla). It will then be open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 am until 1 pm through August 9, and by appointment. All proceeds from sales to benefit ocean non-profits.
View Bill’s work at www.billbeckstudio.com