About Gillian Bedford
Minnesota Landscape Artist
Gillian Bedford is a Minnesota Landscape artist working mainly in acrylics. She also has 30 years of experience in oils and watercolor mediums.
Three years ago, Bedford started primarily using acrylics while she was on the road across America. Her cross-country painting vistas started in her original Philadelphia studio and traveled through Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Oregon, Washington, California and Arizona. Her final destination, and current favorite subject, is the North Woods of Minnesota– her new resident state.
Scenes from across America– paintings by Gillian Bedford, Minnesota Landscape Artist
The speed of acrylic paint enabled the artist to change up what she was doing quickly, imperative for a traveling artist. This new speed, and the medium’s vibrancy, allowed the Minnesota landscape artist to improve how she created her many iterations before settling on a final painting. Gillian’s paintings, full of color and emotion, have an expressive quality and also an abstract nature. Bedford is an artist who has deftly described the loud and quiet passion of the lakes, trees, and bogs of the North. She has successfully developed her own style with this original body of work.
Bedford is from a very artistic family dating back to Daniel Burnham. Burnham was the chief architect re-designing the city of Chicago after the great fire in the 1860s. At Bryn Athyn College, Bedford studied social science and history. Later, she studied painting at Tyler School of Art and Architecture and began to develop her signature style. It was there that Bedford developed an understanding for human emotion in her paintings. While each painting “speaks for itself,” there is an underlying significance that describes the quality of her work.
Education
- Bachelors of Fine Arts, Painting, Magna cum Laude, 1987 – 1991
Temple University, Tyler School of Art & Architecture , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Associates of Arts, Humanities, Magna cum Laude, 1985 – 1987
Bryn Athyn College, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania
Continuing Education
- The Business of Art, 2015, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
- Drawing Class, 2004
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA - Figure and Landscape Painting, 1996 – 2007
Abington Art Center, Abington, PA - Various Classes, 2007-Present
Cheltenham Center for the Arts, Cheltenham, PA - Landscape and Abstract Painting, 1992 – 1993
Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA
Solo Shows
- One Person Show, April 4-May 5, 2023
A Place of Home, Talley Gallery, Bemidji State University - One Person Show, 2017, 2005, 2003
Orchard Artworks, Bryn Athyn, PA - One Person Show, 2015
Kol Ami Congregation, Elkins Park, PA - One Person Show, 2014
Swedenborg Library, Bryn Athyn, PA - Memories, May 2015
Kol Ami Gallery, Elkins Park, PA - Painting Through the Years, 2014
Swedenborg Library, Bryn Athyn, PA - One Person Show, 2009 & 2011
Frame House Gallery, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania - Recent Works, Eight Paintings, September, 2008
Holy Family University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Recent Works, Seven Paintings, May, 2005
Orchard Artworks, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania - Abstract Paintings, July, 2003
Orchard Artworks, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania - Current Works, Twelve Paintings, 2001
Goat Hollow Restaurant, Mount Airy, Pennsylvania - Invitational Student Solo Show, Ten Recent Paintings 1993
Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Group Shows
- Regional Juried Spring Open, April – May 2019
Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA - Duo Show, 2018
Orchard Artworks, Bryn Athyn, PA - MamaCITA Summer, 2018
Salus University, Elkins Park, PA - Begin: Faith, Hope, Resilience, 2013
Painted Bride Gallery, Philadelphia, PA - Art in Bloom, 2014
Cheltenham Center for the Arts, Cheltenham, Pennsylvania - Miss Representation, Represent, 2013
Langman Family Gallery Space, Jenkintown, Pennsylvania - MamaCITA Retrospective, 2013
Pennsylvania Capitol Building, Harrisburg, PA - Begin: Hope, Faith, Resilience, 2012
Painted Bride Art Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Spirituality In Art, 2011
Fine Arts Building, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania - Three Generations Of Artists, 2011
Orchard Artworks, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania - Annual Awards Painting Show, 2010
Cheltenham Center For the Arts, Cheltenham, Pennsylvania - ACX Juried Exhibition, 2006
Artists Cultural Exchange, Salon Des Amis Gallery, Malvern, Pennsylvania - ACX Juried Exhibition, 2006
Artists Cultural Exchange, The Tyme Gallery, Havertown, Pennsylvania - ACX Juried Exhibition, 2005, 2010
Artists Cultural Exchange, The Cosmopolitan Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - ACX Juried Exhibition, 2005
Artists Cultural Exchange, Montgomery County Community College, Blue Bell, Pennsylvania - Three Together, 2005
Academy Of The New Church, Alumni Arts Center, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania - Abington Art Center Annual Juried Show, 2005
Abington Art Center, Abington, Pennsylvania
Awards and Accomplishments
- Floral Interpretation, “Ruby and Friends,” Art in Bloom, Cheltenham Center for the Arts, 2014
- Featured artwork, “Ruby and Friends,” Art in Bloom event flyer, Cheltenham Center for the Arts, 2014
- Featured artwork, “Two Together #9,” Philadelphia Stories, 2013
- Mentioned in Sculptures from Everyday Objects, Victoria Donohoe, The Inquirer, 2012
- Merit Award-Third Prize, Artists Cultural Exchange, Cosmopolitan Club, 2009
- Second Prize, Artists Cultural Exchange, The Tyme Gallery, 2006
- Merit Award–Third Prize, Artists Cultural Exchange, Temple Beth Or, 2005
- Rowland Rice Memorial Prize, Samuel Fleischer Art Memorial, 1993
Collections
In addition to the greater Philadelphia area, Gillian Bedford paintings are held in private collections in California, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, New Hampshire, Washington, Sweden, Germany, and South Africa.
Press
Rezume Arts Showcasing Artists in Northern MN– Youtube video – at 21:28
Kaxe.org– Area Voices, Gillian Bedford Painter
Bemidji Pioneer– Around the Arts Jan. 4
swedenborgiancommunity – Painting as a Prayer