Today we’d like to introduce you to Bethany Britz.
Bethany, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist. My artistic style tells the story of learning how to paint and draw in Detroit, learning how to find meaning in Philadelphia, and remaining committed to Art as my principal interest for the next twenty years as a painter in California.
My Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting is from the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit. There is a recognizable style of perspective rules that I use in my compositions that are provincial to the area. I am also heavily influenced by the Rivera murals next door in the Detroit Institute of Arts, as well as Artemesia Gentileschi’s “Detroit Judith” at the same museum.
Continuing my interest in classicism, I moved to Philadelphia to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in the graduate program. While continuing to develop as a painter, this was an opportunity for materials tests and experiments. Friends and relationships from this experience continue to be invaluable to me as an artist.
Arriving in Oakland, CA in 1998, I had achieved a recognizable painting method and style by 1999, showing and selling in galleries and private sales at various opportunities in the bay area. I met my husband in 2011, and when he introduced me to the beauty of Southern California, I saw paradise. I love my life and home in Vista, California so much, I can’t stop painting it.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work? My work is representational and figurative-narrative, which means that it will often appear to be telling a story. The story itself is decided in the viewer’s mind, however they wish to interpret the arrangements. The most interesting ideas to me are triangulated about Life, Spirit and the Individual, and so I try to compose to offer elements like those for the viewer’s consideration.
When my husband and I moved to Vista, we found out about our local, wild flock of peacocks, who visit the neighbors and various yards during the day. Once a peacock finds out that you have treats, they become kind of demanding – thus was born my relationship with the trespasses allowed to extraordinary beauty. Peacocks are the perfect subject, somewhat constant in representing an ideal standard, but malleable as to representing the boldness of spirit against unchecked and obnoxious egoism.
I am currently testing this subject in three different ways: drawing (pastel on paper), painting (enamel on wood), and gouache illustrations for specific products. Improved technologies in art making and image transferring have made products, such as towels and fabric by the yard, affordable to create in small batches. I make art about wild peacocks in my community as an allegory for how we confuse beauty with virtue. Then I use the images to make things for people to use and wear.
The sterotype of a starving artist scares away many potentially talented artists from pursuing art – any advice or thoughts about how to deal with the financial concerns an aspiring artist might be concerned about? Having a day job means that you don’t have to share a studio, which is what you want. You don’t want to share a studio with a person who doesn’t respect building or fire codes, so you are best on your own. Have a day job.
If you have a day job, in the mornings, work for at least a solid 45 minutes on your project. When you get home, only concentrate on your project to prepare yourself for the next morning’s 45 minutes of work. As you sleep, you will continue to work on the project in your mind. The next morning you work for yourself first.
If you don’t have money for supplies, then recycle or invent a new method. If you don’t have space to paint, then go to the museum. If you don’t have ideas, then read. If you don’t have connections, go to the openings and take pictures for your blog. If you can’t do any of those things, then just have coffee in the morning and forget about your dreams.
Also: be nice to people. We lift ourselves by lifting others.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork? The best way to reach me is by email to bethanybritz@yahoo.com, and www.bethanybritz.com is the best way to see my full image archive and freshest inventory. My Instagram account is under bethanybritz. www.womenwhodraw.com lists me as a member – this site has many talented members from all over the world and is an excellent exposure to various image styles and ideas.
Contact Info:
- Address: Vista, California
- Website: www.bethanybritz.com
- Phone: 510-910-1833
- Email: bethanybritz@yahoo.com
- Instagram: bethanybritz
Image Credit:
I took all photos
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