Arnor Bieltvedt  

 

Artist Statement

After exploring various styles and philosophies of painting for over a decade, I suddenly feel like I have found my home or my style of expression.  Iceland, the island in the north I grew up in was allowed to come into my consciousness and imagination and in the process opened up many doors which were waiting to be opened.  The beauty of an atmospheric, surreal landscape, where stillness prevails but the heartbeat of living nature can also be both felt and heard was a perfect setting for a strong color expression.  The most perfect natural carrier of color is the flower and I feel the attraction it has to the space, soil and air of these, still, nordic landscapes.  This is unspoiled nature, maybe representing the unspoiled pure aspect of humanity in general; probably something worth seeking....

Arnor Bieltvedt                                                                  Chicago, IL, July 23, 2005

 

Biography

Arnor G. Bieltvedt grew up in Iceland. After graduating from high school he moved to Germany. He lived in Munich and Augsburg for three years and received his "Vordiploma" in Economics and Social Sciences from the University of Augsburg.

Arnor was eager to experience new cultures and moved to the United States to continue his studies. He studied at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I., where he received a B.S. degree in Marketing and a M.S. degree in Managerial Technology.

At that point Arnor decided to devote his life to art. His love for art had started surfacing with greater strength than ever before. Arnor saw it his calling to become an artist. He started with great joy and enthusiasm his studies over again, gaining a B.F.A. degree in Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence and a M.F.A. degree in Painting from Washington University in St. Louis, MO.

After the completion of his studies Arnor served as Art Department Head at Logos School, a school for at risk students, in St. Louis, MO, for seven years, and in the summer of 2001 accepted the position of Art Department Head, Art Instructor and Gallery Director at North Shore Country Day School in Winnetka, IL. In the last decade Arnor's work has been shown extensively in the USA and Europe and he has enjoyed representation by many reputable galleries around the world (e.g. the 180 year old Gallery Commeter in Hamburg, Germany, which has exhibited the work of several of the most famous painters in the history of modern art).

Arnor's paintings reside in private and public collections in the United States, Europe and Asia, such as the collections of the ambassadors of Iceland in Finland, Austria and Japan, the tennis star Jimmy Arias in Florida, the movie star Jessica Harper in California and Starbucks C.E.O. Orin Smith in Washington.