During the past several years, Pat Bechtel has been rehabbing a bad spine injury. The work that you can see here was created during that time. Painting is an opportunity for Pat to turn his physical pain into meaningful art for others to enjoy. He also hopes to inspire others to pursue their creative aspirations and fight through the countless obstacles that can get in the way.

Pat is essentially a self-taught artist. He took two painting classes in college, where he was introduced to oil painting for the first time. And he kind of became obsessed with the medium from there. Pat is influenced by abstract expressionism and impressionism. His abstract oil paintings are very colorful, and he often paints with his old paintbrushes or even his hands. He does a lot of layering, giving the paintings a gritty texture. Pat’s back rehab has forced him to stop painting for months at a time, therefore some of these paintings are years in the making.

According to Pat, he tends to overthink and second guess most decisions he makes. However, when he immerses himself in his paintings, he’s able to quiet his thoughts and just align with whatever feels right for the painting.