Artist Bethany Robert finds inspiration in the most unlikely places. It might be a plaster wall patinaed by history, handmade paper, textile from a fashion show, or urban “hieroglyphs” spray painted on a building. It’s the texture of life and it all becomes the foundation for her layered, mixed-media abstract paintings.
Bethany’s appetite for art developed at an early age. It seemed to just come naturally to her. Music, drawing and coloring were among her favorite pastimes growing up, and it seems those have stuck with her into adulthood. But it wasn’t until college, under the tutelage of a savvy professor who instructed her to study the bark of trees or various surfaces of the ground, that she developed her love for texture.
After exposing her to the art that exists in the seemingly mundane objects and surfaces that surround our everyday, Bethany can’t help but see compositions nearly everywhere she looks. From the flaking, burnt umber plaster walls of Venice to fabrics thoughtfully pieced together for a runway show to corroded exterior pipes, all have served as inspiration for her art.
In this interview, Bethany shares how her work comes together and the “Easter eggs” you might find if you look close enough.
Q&A with Bethany:
When did you know art was your calling?
When I was young. I had both a love for music and art––for coloring and drawing. I entered every single coloring contest at the local grocery store and was always entering drawing contests in school. It just came natural to me. Now, I look back and I see all the stuff I created when I was a kid, so I think my love for the arts just really came at a young age.
How did you develop your unique style?
I was always drawn to color and texture. I started doing 2D design, creating a focal point and balance with paper before going to the computer. You draw and cut out these little lines to create a focal point, then go to the computer, which led me to graphic design. Well, I did an internship and realized I didn’t want to sit behind a computer all day, but I liked learning balance, composition, color, and understanding where your eye goes.
Then, in college, I had a professor I did independent study with and she had me create 30 pieces by the end of the semester. So, I would sit there and just work with textures and she’d give me ink and ink washes, or instruct me to go study the bark of a tree or the ground texture and emulate that on paper. That’s when I really developed my love for texture. So a lot of my work is inspired not only from the ground and trees, bark, walls that have corroded over time, but also textiles, fabric, pattern, and the feeling of fabric. I really attribute a lot of where my style blossomed to that professor.
How has your creative journey evolved?
I started my career in paper. I always liked working with paper, but then I started using wood, and then transitioned to canvas because I wanted to have a few different mediums to work on. But I start with my textures. I use homemade paper and different elements like strings, sand, beads, whatever I’m feeling to create a specific texture. Especially if I’m studying a certain wall. For instance, I just got back from Venice, Italy, where I studied a lot of the walls. A lot of my studies are international.
I’ll start with building up the layers––the texture. Then I’ll do ink, then layer on the spray paint, then acrylic and pastel. I’ll get all those layers going until I get to a point where I start applying my oils––oil pastel and oil bar. And then spray paint again, because once you go to oil, you can’t really go the opposite way. I set the foundation with those other layers and then go to oil. My style just went that direction, from discovery and my love for different mediums and exploring.
What do you love most about the creative process?
I get inspired in so many different ways. That’s what I love about it. For instance, let’s say I’m in Venice. I was on a gondola and the guy was telling us about all these different walls as we were going through the canal, and I thought, ‘How cool are the colors of this wall?’. It’s almost like I’m developing these compositions in my head as I see these things. What I like about the process is what catches my eye to make me want to go back and create something similar on paper, on wood, on canvas. So, I like being inspired by something [like a wall] or I’ll see a textile on a runway show and it will make me want to experiment. I love that the sky is the limit and you’ve just got to start it and see where it takes you.
I actually did a few pieces that were inspired in Venice where I saw a wall that was separated by these pipes. So I created these three 5 x 48 wood panels, and it was from seeing that wall that inspired me. That’s what’s cool––you take those real-life experiences and make them into something.
What are you experimenting with currently?
Within my abstract work, I wanted to also create something inside. I wanted to make it identifiable. So, I thought I’d experiment with my take on florals because I love flowers. But I wanted to do a funky style of florals. You’ll always see lines and circles in my work, but they’ll be subdued. I’ll also incorporate words like love, hope or joy. It’s not in your face, but it’s in there.
What brought you to the Celebration of Fine Art?
What I love about it is you get to actually see a vision of your own space, your own gallery, and create it and set it up the way you want to present yourself as an artist. It’s a presentation of who you are as an artist and you get to present it to the world with people coming and talking to you about what you do. You get to share your love for it with people and have great conversations.
The other thing I love about it is the people that I’ve met here. I have met lifelong friends here. We all want to help each other. We all inspire each other. We all celebrate each other, and I’m just grateful. It’s like a community.
