Burst of expression: Brad Bealmear's 'Abstractions' comes to the FOMA in Santa Fe

After 40 years as a photographer, Brad Bealmear put down his camera, traded it in for a paintbrush, and has never looked back.

He began his photography journey at a young age, growing up in Portales. He later moved to California and then moved with his family to New York City, where he spent 20 years as a commercial photographer for clients such as Tiffany & Co.

“I just kind of got tired of it, because I got tired of the commercialism of it,” he said. “I was trying to get across some messages in fine art photography, but it wasn’t really working for me that well. I had a lot of artist friends, painters, and what they were doing appealed to me, so I just decided to try it, and I really liked it.”

Bealmear continued to get photography requests after taking up painting in 2014.

“Everybody was still wanting me to photograph for them,” he said. “It was like taking up all my time. So I just sold my equipment so that they couldn’t ask me that anymore.”

His current work can be viewed during his solo show “Abstractions,” which runs through March 8, at the FOMA Contemporary Art and Photography Gallery in Santa Fe. He describes the works as “abstract expressionist.”

About 40 of Bealmear’s works are part of “Abstractions.”

“Most of the paintings on the wall, on canvas, are from 2024,” he said. “I did a lot of painting last year. Then there are a lot of works on paper also, but those are in clamshell boxes on the table for people to look through. They’re not hanging on the wall. And it’s been about four years or so that I’ve been working on those.”

Bealmear said he tried to get across somewhat of an environmental message in his abstracts.

“I’m really just making a statement from what comes within me, a little bit of just discouragement at the way we’re going,” he explained. “My first ones that I went in this direction, they were very dark, and now I’ve lightened it up, and now they’re very colorful. And that’s what the show is, I’m just trying to essentially cheer people up a bit.”

Bealmear’s pops of color are randomly selected and layered.

“I will grab colors that sort of appeal to me, and then I’ll put another color on top of that one, and I may do that over and over,” he said. “There’s no particular reason. They’re all acrylics.”

Bealmear also works with household paints that he personally mixes to create a hue that appeals to him.

“(As a photographer), in Photoshop, I was able to work out a palette of colors that I like,” he explained. “That’s about 70 colors that I have made up, especially for me, and those are actually household paints. They’re the only ones who can match the colors to what I need. And so, I just kind of mix all that up along with pastels and that’s it. I’m just always working. It’s really enjoyable to work with such a large palette of colors.”

Burst of expression: 'Abstractions' featuring works by Brad Bealmear comes to the FOMA in Santa Fe