An E-Zine of Poetic Variety
Muse Cafe Quarterly
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| Noel Bebee |
| Interview With Noel Bebee |
| Click Any Individual Picture Below to See the Full Sized Original Verson |
Stacy: Hello Noel, first and foremost, thank you for sharing your art with us
and for taking the time out of your busy life to schedule this interview. I have
to ask you, when did you first become interested in art?
Noel: I remember when I was around six or seven I was very interested in
Japanese art. My parents had a few cork carvings under glass which I used
for landscapes. I also was interested in comic book art. My mother would
buy me art supplies and save all the work
that I did, which really encouraged me. I became interested in the stranger
stuff through books from the library and comics.
Stacy: When did you first begin to organize and work on your own art
projects?
Noel: I think it was in the last couple of years of elementary and through the
first years of high school. I would draw caricatures of the teachers in
compromising situations and sell them to the other students for a few bucks
each. When I was caught I was thrown out of that school and from there just
kept going from school to school. It was good money for a while. Some of
the really good ones went for around ten to twelve bucks apiece. I would say
that would be my first serious art project and, I was making my own money.
Stacy: It seems every artist has a few humorous adventures. What does art
do or mean for you personally?
Noel: That is a hard one to answer. It's like having an addiction you just have
to satisfy.
Stacy: As a writer, I know my writing has been influenced by writers whom I
grew to admire at an earlier age. Are there any artists, in particular, who
have influenced you?
Noel: All art and or particular styles of art are what have influenced me
through out my life, not the artist. As with me, I hope that it's the work the
viewer wants to get to know and not me.
Stacy: So true, those words. Who are some individual artists that have had
influence on your work?
Noel: Wilfred Satty, Arthur Rackham, Goya, Patrick Woodroffe, Hans
Bellmer, and many more. All their work that I'm interested in just seems like
the right place for me. The work just fits my way of thinking.
Here is a Url ( http://www.artoutofline.com/web.html/infoago.html ) to a page
on my website that refers to one artist that did not influence me but his work
did become Not an influence but a NEMESIS.
Stacy: That’s so interesting. We’ll make sure to check it out when visiting
your site. Can you tell me a little about what you’ve learned from other
artists?
Noel: I think that the most important thing is that if you think it, then it's just a
matter of doing it and, also to never give up. I think that once you show the
work to the viewer it is no longer yours and be ready for the consequences,
because that's when your gut will tell you if you should keep trying or just go
and do something else. This is something that apparently I have yet to learn.
Stacy: I like that analogy. I actually had a good friend of mine draw a similar
analogy the other day. Something like, ‘Once you let other’s view your art
and writing, it becomes theirs as well, through the process of interpretation.‘
Can you tell me a little bit about your art, it looks mostly digital, or is it a
combination of pencil drawings and digital art?
Noel: I think of the work as being impulsive, if I think that it's a good idea at
the time then I do it. All the work I do now is digital or digital over scanned
drawings. I try to keep all the work as large as I used to when I was painting
on canvas, which was around 6 x 4 ft. I see the computer as the cheapest
studio space in town, I don't have to by canvas, paints, brushes or worry
about storage and, I don't have to pay rent for a studio or keep it clean. The
one thing that the computer does not do is the work, I still do all that one
stroke at a time, as if I'm still doing it on canvas.
Stacy: I think all those advantages of digital art are the reason most artists
are drawn to that avenue of creating. Everything can be done in privacy and
in the relaxing environment of your own home. What programs do you most
use in aiding in the creation of your pieces?
Noel: I use only Adobe PhotoShop 5.5. and, the PhotoShop air brush, pencil,
paint brush and eraser, that's it. So as you can tell I'm not very proficient in
the program. I would like to try a program called Z Brush with PhotoShop
some time in the future though.
Stacy: You are talented, indeed. It’s amazing how much detail and depth
some of these pieces of art showcase. I am particularly drawn to the piece
"Surprising A Lorelei," can you tell me what influenced this particular piece?
Noel: Well when I got the idea for her, was living along the Red River in
Winnipeg. One summer night just as it was getting dark I went for a walk
along the river bank and took a path through some old growth elm and ash
trees. I had just read some stuff about fairy folklore and one of the creatures
was a wood nymph in Germany called a Lorelei. All that I read was not nice.
This creature if disturbed or thought itself threatened in anyway would kill you
and not think twice. Well as I went on my walk I thought that I heard a child-
like giggle coming from behind some trees. So I went off to see if it was
children. When I got there I was surprised to see no one so I turned to
resume my walk and, just as I got turned around, right in front of me was this
misty silver creature of beauty with one hand raised in front of her face in
what seemed to be a benign objection to our encounter. Anyway if that was a
Lorelei then I'm lucky to be alive. That idea stayed with me for some thirty
years till some time in the late 90s when I finally did it
Stacy: Wow. That’s quite an experience. Sounds almost like something
from an old B Horror Movie. There’s another piece with an eerie,
supernatural feel to it, Always Take Off Into The Wind. What was your origin
of inspiration for that piece?
Noel: That's another old idea that I just decided to do one day. I have this
small collection of dolls that I sometimes use as subjects for my work. There
was one of them sitting on a cows' skull that I have laying around. I took a
look at it one day and that's when it hit me, I imagined the wings first but that
seemed too much like a common
every day fairy to me so I gave her that twenties style pilots' look and decided
to leave her on the cow's skull. Then came the title. The idea is about killing
sacred cows and getting away from the scene of the crime as quickly as
possible, because you never know how the mob will react.
Stacy: Such creativity. So that whole idea stemmed just from the abstract
observation of a few dolls. You are quite imaginative, though I’m sure that’s
an attribute required of any artist. Noel, most of all, what does your art say to
it's viewers? As we draw this interview to a close, what message do you hope
to portray in sharing your pieces with the world?
Noel: I try to title the work with what I think will involve the viewer in taking a
second look at the piece and going further with it. Some of the work is just
blunt and straight-forward. Most of the time when I start an image I start l
going through my record collection to find some lyric that will give me a hint at
the title. If there is anything
that I want from the viewer it would be a reaction good or bad.
and for taking the time out of your busy life to schedule this interview. I have
to ask you, when did you first become interested in art?
Noel: I remember when I was around six or seven I was very interested in
Japanese art. My parents had a few cork carvings under glass which I used
for landscapes. I also was interested in comic book art. My mother would
buy me art supplies and save all the work
that I did, which really encouraged me. I became interested in the stranger
stuff through books from the library and comics.
Stacy: When did you first begin to organize and work on your own art
projects?
Noel: I think it was in the last couple of years of elementary and through the
first years of high school. I would draw caricatures of the teachers in
compromising situations and sell them to the other students for a few bucks
each. When I was caught I was thrown out of that school and from there just
kept going from school to school. It was good money for a while. Some of
the really good ones went for around ten to twelve bucks apiece. I would say
that would be my first serious art project and, I was making my own money.
Stacy: It seems every artist has a few humorous adventures. What does art
do or mean for you personally?
Noel: That is a hard one to answer. It's like having an addiction you just have
to satisfy.
Stacy: As a writer, I know my writing has been influenced by writers whom I
grew to admire at an earlier age. Are there any artists, in particular, who
have influenced you?
Noel: All art and or particular styles of art are what have influenced me
through out my life, not the artist. As with me, I hope that it's the work the
viewer wants to get to know and not me.
Stacy: So true, those words. Who are some individual artists that have had
influence on your work?
Noel: Wilfred Satty, Arthur Rackham, Goya, Patrick Woodroffe, Hans
Bellmer, and many more. All their work that I'm interested in just seems like
the right place for me. The work just fits my way of thinking.
Here is a Url ( http://www.artoutofline.com/web.html/infoago.html ) to a page
on my website that refers to one artist that did not influence me but his work
did become Not an influence but a NEMESIS.
Stacy: That’s so interesting. We’ll make sure to check it out when visiting
your site. Can you tell me a little about what you’ve learned from other
artists?
Noel: I think that the most important thing is that if you think it, then it's just a
matter of doing it and, also to never give up. I think that once you show the
work to the viewer it is no longer yours and be ready for the consequences,
because that's when your gut will tell you if you should keep trying or just go
and do something else. This is something that apparently I have yet to learn.
Stacy: I like that analogy. I actually had a good friend of mine draw a similar
analogy the other day. Something like, ‘Once you let other’s view your art
and writing, it becomes theirs as well, through the process of interpretation.‘
Can you tell me a little bit about your art, it looks mostly digital, or is it a
combination of pencil drawings and digital art?
Noel: I think of the work as being impulsive, if I think that it's a good idea at
the time then I do it. All the work I do now is digital or digital over scanned
drawings. I try to keep all the work as large as I used to when I was painting
on canvas, which was around 6 x 4 ft. I see the computer as the cheapest
studio space in town, I don't have to by canvas, paints, brushes or worry
about storage and, I don't have to pay rent for a studio or keep it clean. The
one thing that the computer does not do is the work, I still do all that one
stroke at a time, as if I'm still doing it on canvas.
Stacy: I think all those advantages of digital art are the reason most artists
are drawn to that avenue of creating. Everything can be done in privacy and
in the relaxing environment of your own home. What programs do you most
use in aiding in the creation of your pieces?
Noel: I use only Adobe PhotoShop 5.5. and, the PhotoShop air brush, pencil,
paint brush and eraser, that's it. So as you can tell I'm not very proficient in
the program. I would like to try a program called Z Brush with PhotoShop
some time in the future though.
Stacy: You are talented, indeed. It’s amazing how much detail and depth
some of these pieces of art showcase. I am particularly drawn to the piece
"Surprising A Lorelei," can you tell me what influenced this particular piece?
Noel: Well when I got the idea for her, was living along the Red River in
Winnipeg. One summer night just as it was getting dark I went for a walk
along the river bank and took a path through some old growth elm and ash
trees. I had just read some stuff about fairy folklore and one of the creatures
was a wood nymph in Germany called a Lorelei. All that I read was not nice.
This creature if disturbed or thought itself threatened in anyway would kill you
and not think twice. Well as I went on my walk I thought that I heard a child-
like giggle coming from behind some trees. So I went off to see if it was
children. When I got there I was surprised to see no one so I turned to
resume my walk and, just as I got turned around, right in front of me was this
misty silver creature of beauty with one hand raised in front of her face in
what seemed to be a benign objection to our encounter. Anyway if that was a
Lorelei then I'm lucky to be alive. That idea stayed with me for some thirty
years till some time in the late 90s when I finally did it
Stacy: Wow. That’s quite an experience. Sounds almost like something
from an old B Horror Movie. There’s another piece with an eerie,
supernatural feel to it, Always Take Off Into The Wind. What was your origin
of inspiration for that piece?
Noel: That's another old idea that I just decided to do one day. I have this
small collection of dolls that I sometimes use as subjects for my work. There
was one of them sitting on a cows' skull that I have laying around. I took a
look at it one day and that's when it hit me, I imagined the wings first but that
seemed too much like a common
every day fairy to me so I gave her that twenties style pilots' look and decided
to leave her on the cow's skull. Then came the title. The idea is about killing
sacred cows and getting away from the scene of the crime as quickly as
possible, because you never know how the mob will react.
Stacy: Such creativity. So that whole idea stemmed just from the abstract
observation of a few dolls. You are quite imaginative, though I’m sure that’s
an attribute required of any artist. Noel, most of all, what does your art say to
it's viewers? As we draw this interview to a close, what message do you hope
to portray in sharing your pieces with the world?
Noel: I try to title the work with what I think will involve the viewer in taking a
second look at the piece and going further with it. Some of the work is just
blunt and straight-forward. Most of the time when I start an image I start l
going through my record collection to find some lyric that will give me a hint at
the title. If there is anything
that I want from the viewer it would be a reaction good or bad.