URL: www.bebou.co.nz

Beatrice Bourhis Born in Constance, of German & French descent, I lived most of my life in the South of Germany near the Alps, where I grew up inspired by the beauty of nature. The desire to be creative was always a dominant feeling, which I didn’t explore until I visited Barcelona in 1996. Being exposed to the interesting, beautiful and uplifting architecture and mosaic work by Antonio Gaudi sparked off my enthusiasm for my creative path. After extensive travelling, I settled in Golden Bay in 1998. While working part time, I focused my creative thoughts and energy into both, sculptural and functional art. I began with mosaic and ferro cement works. I am mainly self taught. Through a lot of experimenting and constant searching for new ways of combining a variety of materials, I have found a way to express the beauty of my surroundings and life it self. Combining the two ancient pratices of mosaic and glass painting I have developed a way of composing artworks that are unique. I used mosaic as a stepping stone and moved on to a more contemporary level. Combining the mosaic structure with the clear lines of such materials as glass , metal, Perspex gave me more options to create , but I still searched for better ways to express moods, impressions, thoughts and environmental Subjects. Now, my abstract painting style is an integral aspect to my work; primarily colour, line and visual texture are used to express my emotional and cognitive responses to my environment and aspects of my life.