Sensescapes on Ledges Painting

William Beaver
Painter, Sculptor, Scientist, Engineer
Biography
William Beaver was born in Kansas City, Missouri and lived in that state until graduating from the University of Missouri with a BS degree in Physics. It may be that an influence on his art work comes from his technical education and interests. However, his love of art and painting came before his formal education. As a child he often visited the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art with his father. It was clear that his father enjoyed viewing the art and that was a big factor on the development of his love of art. He started working as a painters apprentice when only 15 years old, during the summer school vacations. He worked in his older brothers painting and decorating company. As an apprentice, he was instructed in the basics, cleaning brushes, mixing paints, various methods used in interior painting and the techniques of trompe loeil decorating. Through high school and university he worked part time for 6 years in this craft perfecting his skills. During his undergraduate work he took courses in drawing, design and descriptive geometry and audited many courses in art. However, his primary interest during this period was in the field of science. After receiving his BS degree in Physics he joined Bell Telephone Laboratories as a member of the technical staff and continued his graduate studies at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, from which he graduated with a MS degree in Physical Electronics. It was during his attendance at this university that his interest in art began to intensify. The Boston Museum of Fine Arts is located at the edge of the Northeastern University campus and he spent most of his free time in this museum enjoying the opportunity to study the broad range of art on display there.

Because of his academic excellence, he was awarded by Bell Telephone Laboratories a fellowship to continue his graduate studies. After receiving his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Electrical Engineering from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, he moved to southern California. In California his interest in contemporary art was stimulated by living next to Laguna Beach, one of the oldest artists colonies in the United States. In his spare time he studied color theory and the development of shapes and forms in carved and constructed wood and sand castings of cement.