Dale Beckman was born in Forsyth Montana in 1955. As a young child, his affinity with the natural world was apparent as he spent days playing in the hills with his older brothers looking for arrowheads and gazing over the Yellowstone River Valley. Dale was an image-maker at an early age and art became an obsession. In 1959 the family moved east to the railroad town of Glendive, home to Makoshika State Park. Vincent Van Gogh and Charles Birchfield were early influences.
The Badlands presented a sculpture garden made by Nature. Gigantic abstract erosion formations. It is an environment that blends the objective image with the abstract. Dale accredits the Badland formations with influencing his painting style, known as "abstracted realism”.
Dale received a B.A. from Rocky Mountain College in 1979 and continued with post-graduate work at the University of Montana. He was also active with the Miller Foundation of Art in Billings. In 1986 Mr. Beckman moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico. He exhibited his work in outdoor venues as a member of the Santa Fe Society of Artists, Artist Equity, and Rio Grande Artist Cooperative. He also marketed his work in regional galleries. In 1996 he moved to Abiquiu, New Mexico to paint the desert that artist Georgia O’Keefe called her home. In 2014, Dale received a grant from the Myrna Loy Foundation to paint the Badlands of Makoshika State Park which was later exhibited at the Myrna Loy. Other museum exhibits include the Hockaday Art Museum in Kalispell, and the Holter Art Museum in Helena, Montana. Beckman's paintings are in several private and corporate collections.
I am a landscape painter for the most part, however, my subject matter has more to do with the invisible energies that influence the creation of form. The moment energy becomes matter marks a pivotal transition in the universe's evolution, encapsulating the profound interconnectedness between the fundamental forces governing existence.
I am fascinated by the creation of patterns and I enjoy the process of their creation.
My poured paintings follow the original process pioneered by the artist, David Alfaro Siqueiros, with his accidental painting technique. The process involves pouring paints with different viscosities together and the natural process of separation creates fantastic patterns. I do not use an additive such as silicon to the acrylic paint because that destabilizes the material shorting its longevity. The pours are applied in numerous applications over a textured surface. The final paintings are quite heavy.