Artist Statement
Natural phenomena and perceptions of their beauty are dominant themes of my artwork. I aim to portray the beauty that is revealed in forms from nature whose life or usefulness has presumably expired. I gather fallen leaves, flowers, moss, bark, lichen, seed pods, mushrooms, butterflies and moths, algae and seaweed on my walks in the woods and along the shore to weave into my mixed media art. Drawing, photography, painting, collage and stitching is incorporated with botanic eco-printing, a methodology using leaves and flora to create unpredictable and imperfect chemical imprints on fabric and paper. As humans, we are intrinsically drawn to common perceptions of beauty, like colorful flowers or a perfect, untarnished shell. But I am inspired by the intrinsic beauty of the detritus, flotsam, discarded, deteriorating and overlooked flora, fauna and fungi. These elements from my nature walks may no longer have life, but they are evidence of life, and they are beautiful. These processes align well with my instincts to forage, gather and collect forms in nature and portray them in unexpected ways in my artwork.
Bio
Bryant Galloway Whelan is an award-winning artist based in Fairhope, Alabama. She received her BFA from Auburn University and has participated in multiple solo exhibits and group shows. Whelan teaches classes and workshops in experimental printmaking techniques in venues across the Southeast and is represented by Sophiella Gallery in Mobile, Alabama. She has been awarded artist residencies with Nantucket Island School of Art and Design, Truro Center for the Arts in Cape Cod, and the Emerald Coast Cultural Arts Alliance in Seaside, Florida. Whelan is a member of the Fairhope Signature Artists exhibiting group and Mississippi Art Colony, the oldest continuous art colony in the nation.
Recent Exhibitions
Group Exhibition, Fairhope Signature Artists, Eastern Shore Art Center, Fairhope, AL 2025
Solo Exhibition, Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art, Biloxi, MS 2024
Solo Exhibition, Eastern Shore Art Center, Fairhope, AL 2024
Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, Juried 75 Year Mississippi Art Colony Retrospective Show, 2023
Shelby County Arts Council, Adult Juried Art Show, Columbiana, AL 2022
Eastern Shore Art Center, Fairhope, AL 2022
Central Arts Collective “Flights of Fancy” Juried Show, Mobile, AL 2021
Mississippi College Samual Gore Gallery, Dual Artist Show, Clinton, MS 2020
Eastern Shore Art Association Annual Juried Show, Fairhope, AL 2021,2020, 2018
Mobile Arts Council Juried Member Show, Mobile, AL 2024, 2023, 2019
Mississippi Art Colony Juried Traveling Show, 2024-2018
The Cedars Annual Juried Show, Jackson, MS, 2017
The Art House Gallery, Ocean Springs MS, Exhibiting Artist 2012-2017
Artology Gallery, Mobile, AL , Exhibiting Artist 2013-2015
Awards
2024 Alabama Audubon Bird of the Year Official Artist
2024 Members Choice Award, Mobile Arts Council Annual Member Exhibition
2024 Artist in Residence, Nantucket Island School of Design and Art
2019 First Place / Mixed Media, Ocean Springs Art Association
2019 Best of Show / Artistic Achievement, Mississippi Art Colony
2017 2nd Place Plein Air Competition, City of Gautier, MS
2017 People’s Choice Award, Singing River Art Association
2017 First Place / Mixed Media, Singing River Art Association
2016 First Place / / Acrylic, Ocean Springs Art Association
Judging
Mobile Watercolor and Graphic Arts Society Exhibition, 2024, 2018
International Miniature Painting Society, 2018
First City Art Show, Pensacola, FL 2018
State of Mississippi Bicentennial Exhibition, 2017
Alabama Plein Air Artist Association, 2017
Art Study Club, Pensacola, 2017
Teaching Experience
2026 Nature as Muse, Experimental Printmaking, Eastern Shore Art Center
2025 Cyanotype, Riverhouse Workshop
2024 Experimental Relief Printmaking, Eastern Shore Art Center
2023 Botanic Ecoprinting Workshop, Eastern Shore Art Center
2021 Botanic Ecoprinting Workshop, Fairhope, Alabama
2014 Collage & Painting workshop, Artology Gallery, Mobile, AL
2014 Mixed Media workshop, Gulf Coast Art Assoc, MS
2014 Monoprint Collage Workshop, Pass Christian Art Assoc, MS
2014 Grumbacher Paints Official Instructor, acrylic painting
2002-3 Art Instructor, Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL
Contact
bryant.g.whelan@gmail.com
251-270-9406
@BryantWhelan
.