Today we’d like to introduce you to Betty Hock.
Betty, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I grew up in New York City. As a child, I liked to draw and often copied Disney characters from comic books. But that was the extent of my artmaking.
My degrees are in Health Ed from City University of New York (CCNY). While vacationing in California, my husband and I fell in love with San Diego weather. We moved here and got our big city “fix” with short trips to San Francisco. After a few years at the high school, I joined the faculty at SD City College.
I took my first art class in drawing, through SDSU Extension. I soon enrolled in oil painting, but unfortunately, the paint materials gave me headaches. With that problem and a busy time schedule with teaching and coaching, I put artmaking on hold, hoping someday to start again.
Fast forward another decade or so, I took beginning watercolor through Continuing Ed with Annette Paquet, from whom I learned a great deal. I felt like a sponge taking in as much as I could. I retired early from teaching to become an artist. I loved my teaching years, and now my art career provides another path for creativity and expression.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
My primary inspiration comes from the natural world – its visual drama provides the stimulus for my painting. I paint mainly without reference material, so I don’t know what the final outcome will look like. Working between representation and abstraction, my imagination takes over. Shapes become simplified, and color is used for impact. Beyond this, I work to create a mood and sometimes mystery that I hope the viewer will embrace.
I use acrylic paint for much of my work, but I also work with encaustic paints. This process involves hot pigmented beeswax applied to a support (usually wood) and manipulated with a torch. The quick hardening of the wax demands from me greater spontaneity and abstraction. I find this challenge exciting and creative.
Besides uninhabited landscapes, I sometimes choose to paint busy city streets. Most recently, I have been painting non-representational work. I find this to be difficult… creating without relying upon some object in reality and still satisfy all the compositional elements of good painting. One does not just fling paint onto the canvas as some proclaim 🙂
In your view, what is the biggest issue artists have to deal with?
I think the biggest challenge for an artist is having enough time. Artists have to create, do the marketing for their work plus any other business necessities.
Another challenge facing artists is a population with limited art education. Without exposure to art in elementary schools and above, how can an individual discover his or her artistic talents or appreciate the works of others?
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
My work can be seen on my website and on social media. I have exhibited at the San Diego Art Institute, the San Diego Watercolor Society and Art On 30th. Each August I show at ArtWalk@Liberty Station.
I occasionally send out emails announcing where I will be showing. People interested in my work should send me an email.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bettyhockfineart.com
- Email: betty@bettyhockfineart.com
- Instagram: @bettyhock
- Facebook: Betty Hock
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