© Bill Guffey / Barcroft Media
An artist who cannot afford to travel is using Google street view to visit stunning locations around the world and capture them in paint.
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For the past year wannabe globe-trotter Bill Guffey, 45, has spent hundreds of hours travelling thousands of virtual miles to visit places he feels he will never get to in person.
Like thousands struggling through the global economic crisis, work commitments and running a family have sadly meant the graphic designer and dad-of-two may never be able to reach his favourite destinations in reality.
© Bill Guffey / Barcroft Media
But using the internet giant’s mapping tool, with which web-surfers can visit locations across the globe, painter Bill, from Burkesville, Kentucky, USA, has been able to capture iconic landscapes far from home.
Creating his amazing set of paintings through their street view counterparts, the 45-year-old graphic artist has walked through every state in his home country as well as England, Scotland, Italy, France, Switzerland and Portugal.
And after electronically hiking through some of the planet’s most beautiful spots, resourceful Bill sits down to paint them at his home studio.
© Bill Guffey / Barcroft Media
He said: “Having to look after my family and hold down a job have meant that my travelling days are numbered.
“Street view has really changed everything for me because it means I can go to all of those places I am in love with, sit and paint them as if I am really there.
“Travelling is what really does it for me. When I was younger and single I travelled around Europe and other countries across the world and it is the best thing I have ever done.
“Now that I have become a painter I would love to revisit some of those places and capture them in paint. But for the present, Google is an amazing substitute.”
And in an unusual twist to his project Bill’s captivating series has focused on the places travellers don’t normally visit rather than world landmarks.
© Bill Guffey / Barcroft Media
He said: “We have always been able to look up pictures of famous buildings and places around the world. What’s great about street view is that I can go to those places I would go to myself, to those places where tourists don’t normally go.
“To me, the landscapes I like to paint are often little back-streets, an obscure cafe in the middle of nowhere, or terraces on an often ignored road.
“Working like this I can seek out those views I think are still iconic of their countries, but not necessarily their most famous buildings.”
To find his perfect places, Bill uses the odd method of beginning his Google search looking for certain businesses.
“By picking a type of business that fits the kind of location I want to find, I end up in places that would be difficult to discover on foot.
“For example, if I pick a tattoo parlour in a certain US state, I seem to have a pretty good feel of the architecture that will come up on street view.”
© Bill Guffey / Barcroft Media
On other occasions, Bill simply picks a place name out of a hat and virtually walks around until he finds an inspiring view.
He has so far created over 100 paintings and in his series has captured a red phone box in Trafalgar Square, London., a lonely house in Scotland, a yellow taxi in New York City, USA., and a canal boat in Amsterdam, Holland.
His pieces range up to 30×40 inches and sell for up to £1500.
Married Bill creates his masterpieces at home where he lives with wife Kelly, 39, a salon worker and manager of a non-profit home for abused women and children.
The couple also live with their two girls Katy, 17, and Rylea Beth, 8.
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