Benjamin B. Purvis / Artist Biography

   Benjamin Brantley Purvis grew up in the small town of Franklin, Tennessee,  just south of Nashville.  There he came to appreciate art from watching his sister, Heather A. Miller, win a variety of art shows in the community, and later becoming an art teacher in Owensboro KY. He was also influenced by the landscape and wildlife watercolor art of his father who was working as an architect at the time. Ben grew up and ranked first and best of show in all the same art shows his sister had won many years ago, and so decided to make a career out of his abilities. He graduated high school, having successfully completed all AP honor art classes with top grades and decided to go to Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, FL.

    Ben was humbled when he arrived, for he was now immersed in a school with students that were some of the best of the best emerging artists in the world. Being around such talent caused many students to fold under pressure, but it gave Ben the motivation he needed to become one of the top students of his graduating class.  After four years of hard work and determination, Ben finished his courses and received his BFA in the major of Illustration. For his senior thesis he wrote a book of poetry and illustrated it, which received much praise from fellow students, faculty, and the surrounding community that attended the senior art show. Having trained under some of the world's leading illustrators and artists, Ben became very proficient in many mediums and subject matter to be able to achieve whatever jobs came his way in the profesional art community.

    Ben soon found out that his father, who was now retired, staying and helping with Ben’s 90 and 91 year old grandparents in Southlake, TX, had fallen ill with cancer. Ben moved to Southlake and, during this time, seized the moment to be with his father and achieved the goal of producing and showing art together in local exhibitions, a life long wish shared by the two. After struggeling many years with lung cancer, his father passed away in October of 2006. Before his passing, he asked Ben to keep following his dream as an aspiring artist and to never give up. Ben gladly promised this to his father, and to this day, strives feverishly for success in his personal dream of making a living out of a life long love, the creation of visual aesthetics from the use of his mind, hands. and God given talent to form a thing we like to call ART. Benjamin now has original works in many galleries, wineries, resturaunts, and private collections spanning the country. His artwork is primarily, but not limited to, oil paintings on stretched canvas and masonite panels with subjects including landscapes, nudes, portraits, and illustration. Ben still resides in Southlake as a professional artist working on his newest, most popular, series entitled Bayou Impressions, a series of impressionistic oil paintings on textured canvas utilizing the palette knife, the brush, and the thowing/splattering/slinging of diluted oils to create images of bayous and waterways across America, which vary from fiery autumnal hues to warm golds, muted greens and vibrant blues. As a Tennessee native and outdoor enthusiast,  the verdant expanses, trees and waterways of the South nuance his unique work.   

Benjamin B. Purvis’ Process:

Many are familiar with the evolution of artist Jackson Pollock’s creative process, which began when he accidentally dripped paint directly onto unstretched canvas and resulted in unforgettable, multilayered pieces that helped define abstract expressionism.

The unique and unorthodox process used in Benjamin Purvis’ latest series had a similar genesis. Ben says, “This isn’t a style I studied, learned or emulated, but something I developed along the way.”

Working in his signature oils and unhappy with what he’d painted, Purvis threw the turpenoid used to thin his paints directly on the canvas. Later, while staring at the changed painting, he had a creative breakthrough.  He picked up his palette knife and added sky and water to the piece.  The resulting work became the first of a series, and the birth of a genre of abstract impressionism for which the emergent artist is increasingly recognized.  In addition to employing his signature palette knife, Purvis’ process includes a unique combination of brush strokes and paint movement—flinging and flicking paint, along with a calculated spray of turpenoid on the canvas.

Purvis often paints in his outdoor studio at night under a blanket of stars, experimenting with hues, textures, oils and spirits to create his signature pieces. To commission Ben for a painting feel free to call him directly at (817) 456-0068 or write him an E-mail at BBPurvis@verizon.net