I am a nationally and internationally exhibited painter, and I often take a multidisciplinary approach in my work, employing other media such as drawing, installation, architecture, digital media, and sound. I use drawing as a means to reduce and distill the most essential aspect of what I want to say. In the classroom, I strive to create an environment that supports the uniqueness and creative potential of each student, guiding them toward avenues and possibilities for their work to develop. In my classes students will be pushed to refine their technical skills, but are encouraged just as much to develop a spirit of invention and playfulness toward their process. I believe that my work as an educator lies in helping students to develop equally across the areas of craft, concept, and creativity. Students should expect to work hard, but have fun in the process!

I work as part of a duo, Beck+Col. Our practice encompasses a wide variety of media and techniques, including costume, performance, video, music/voice and installation.

Through costume-based performance and video, we build alternate universes that are populated by monsters, spawning a counter mythology and queering of existing norms. The playfulness of our monsters and lightness of the materials contrasts the brutality and gore of the performances. Our work questions individualism, both in practice and in content. Inherently collaborative, our practice also features other artists and performers, working together to create large works. We highlight the effects of atomization, and in contrast, the power of community. We draw inspiration from professional wrestling, opera and horror films. In my class, students can expect a fun, collaborative environment that challenges them both technically and creatively.

The art of teaching Life Drawing reflects my studio practice that centers on the challenge of painting image-records born of my life long fascination with the people and places of the American West.

Landscape and the patterns of weather that cloak it is temporal and ever in flux.

My art like my teaching, seeks to study and record that unfolding visual journey with the universal language of abstraction.

I love the collaborative improvisation of the Life Drawing studio which pivots on the creative energy between the artist and the model.