July 2025

We are in the midst of insufferable heat and humidity, but the show goes on. I’ve struggled to stay positive and hopeful lately. This month’s trips to Boston and NYC were the perfect antidepressant :) Art is my refuge, my escape, my therapy. I feel happiest and most at home in an art museum. I can remember my art history professor saying that when she walked into a museum it was like seeing old friends and I thought, “Geez, that sounds kinda weird!” But here I am, nearly 10 years later, feeling the exact same way. 

Visiting museums is a reminder that breaking the rules is encouraged. The Harvard Museums are fantastic. You don’t even realize that it’s a consortium of three museums because they’re all interconnected. So much great art! We also saw the Van Gogh special exhibition at the MFA and we went to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum for the first time. I was reading, “Strapless,” the whole time we were there, which couldn’t have been more perfect because of all the Sargent paintings we saw. Including the murals at the Boston Library. Wow. This man … what an incredible artist. If you are a Sargent fan and have not read Strapless, stop what you’re doing right this second and go get that book.

El Jaleo - at Isabella Stewart Gardner

It was also really cool to be in Boston on July 4, on the 249th anniversary of our nation. We sang all the songs, we pledged allegiance, we listened to the reading of the Declaration of Independence and we paid a visit to Paul Revere and the Old North Church. 

And if I didn’t get my Sargent fix in Boston, I certainly got all I could handle in New York. Sargent in Paris!!!! Eeeeeeeeee!  I’ve wanted to see Fumeé de Ambergris for so long. And for some reason, I had this idea that it was a smaller painting. Boy, was I wrong. Let me describe my feelings about Ambergris in two words: Stendhal Syndrome. 

We bought a membership to The Met so that we could enter an hour early on Saturday morning. By the time you buy individual tickets, you might as well get the membership for the extras, and walking into that museum an hour earlier than the masses is a HUGE benefit. The first few people all stopped in the first room. I made a beeline to Ambergris and had her all to myself for about 15 minutes. Yes, I cried. I had to keep taking big deep breaths just to calm down. No other painting affects me this way. I cannot explain it. Just writing about it makes me cry. She’s so beautiful and so beautifully painted. It’s like no other.  

The Sargent exhibit was out of this world good. Beautiful lighting, great storytelling and insights into his work ethic and influences. What I would give to flip through that sketchbook that was on view. 

 

This is a close up of the previous photo. This is why you need to see art in person. You’ll never get details like this in a photo or online. 

I LOVE the way Oskar Kokoschka paints hands. Look at that mark making!

Look at the mark making on the jacket. Delicious. And different!

One of my favorite VVG paintings. 

We also visited The Frick Collection, my first time there. And it was all going rather predictably until I saw this:

Goosebumps. Shiver me timbers, what a painting. Here’s what The Frick says about it:

This is the largest of Rembrandt's many self-portraits, painted when he was fifty-two years old. The paint is applied thickly in rich layers, with broken surfaces, highlights, and glazes that confirm how carefully thought out Rembrandt's "rough manner" was. Executed during a period of constraint and adversity, at a time when Rembrandt had declared bankruptcy, and was obliged to sell his vast collections, this magisterial self-portrait presents the aging artist in historical and exotic costume. Rembrandt portrays himself in a golden-yellow pleated jerkin, worn over a linen shirt, fastened diagonally. An ornamental neck cloth is tucked into the front of the jerkin, and a red sash is wound twice around his waist. In his left hand, the artist holds a silver-tipped jointed rattan cane. Rembrandt is not shown working but attired in sixteenth-century costume that would have conjured associations with artists of the Northern Renaissance. Yet the poignancy of the artist's representation of himself remains. As was noted when the painting was exhibited at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1909, "it is the head of an old lion at bay, worn and melancholy, yet conscious of his strength, determined and a little defiant."

It is one of the most beautiful paintings I’ve ever seen in my life. If you haven’t seen it in person, you must. It GLOWS. An absolute stunner in person.

Capping off the most perfect day with the man who takes such great care of me. I’m so lucky.

PAINTINGS

An acquaintance recently held a call for art that speaks to activism and embraces the spirit of resistance. It hit me at the perfect time and although I don’t have much experience in this genre, I gave it a whirl. What I noticed is that I felt better getting my feelings out in paint. In preparation for my painting, I looked to artists that have addressed similar issues in art history: Philip Guston, Basquiat, Picasso. What might they paint at a time like this? I kept thinking about it as I was trying to fall asleep at night and I kept going back to Guston and why I fell in love with him in the first place.

“Stationary Figure” was painted in 1973. It’s massive and hangs at The Met in New York. When I saw it for the first time I could barely walk away. It felt so relatable. This is me. This is me at night (minus the cigarette). 

So I took this concept and adapted it to my surroundings, and I came up with, “What Keeps You Up at Night.” I sleep with a fan to try and combat my hot flashes, that’s Winnie on top of me and Otis on the floor. Louis and Scott are on my left but you can’t see them. I’m always awake around 3. Today it was 2:53 a.m. and a struggle to go back to sleep. I think about all the bullshit we have to deal with around politics, no matter who is in office. My God, I would give anything to shut all of that noise off and just live. (And I don’t watch the news!) 

In the painting you’ll find references to Guernica, Guston’s bulging eyes, clock and lightbulb motifs, Basquiat at the foot of the bed and more. I recently saw a Glenn Ligon installation of the word America and it inspired me to include a reference to that as well. 

Well, whattaya know? This painting has been accepted into the show and will be on view in Charleston in November. That’s a first for me and I’m proud of myself for exploring new territory and experimenting with new subject matter. 

Because I felt emboldened from the Metro Montage show, I painted another self portrait, “Me and Jimmy Lee.” I love this painting. The mark making is solid, it’s expressive and unusual. Planning to do more along these lines once I get my fall obligations behind me.

Weird paintings and self portraits don’t sell, so I continue to paint landscapes, tried painting a few from just memory and my sketchbook notes. It’s not easy. My landscapes are better when painted en plein air, but it’s just too damn hot.

Atlanta is an unusual art town. There are galleries who cater to interior designers and art that matches the sofa (not my cup of tea), there’s edgy stuff you find in West Midtown, south Atlanta, Edgewood, Little 5, Castleberry and that’s pretty much it. Huff Harrington carries a few plein air pieces, but not many. My friends who make edgier art think the plein air/landscape/still life stuff is boring. And my plein air/more traditional artist friends think the weird stuff is, well, weird. I feel like I have a foot in both worlds. If you’re an abstract artist in Atlanta you have to cater to the interior designers, and I’m not doing that. So I’m sorta on my own, and I’ve just realized that over the last few days. What I have to do is make what I want and let the chips fall where they may.  

Along the more traditional lines, I’m working on a series of paintings of Atlanta landmarks. My “North Avenue” painting is my new favorite. This little collection will be available at Virginia Highland Books in mid August. Most everything I put in the bookstore sells, so that’s a plus.

TEACHING

Lots of teaching in July: Acworth, private lessons and a senior center in Buckhead. I received a very nice note the other day from one of my students who got two drawings accepted into a show. She wrote, “I could have never done any of it without your help Beth … you have made drawing something I can see myself doing for years & years to come … and actually be good at it!!! I just can’t thank you enough!!”

It feels amazing to sell a painting. It feels amazing to be happy with a finishing painting. It feels amazing to have work accepted into a show. But there is NOTHING like getting an email like that. It feels like a sign from the universe that teaching is where I’m supposed to be. 

AUGUST

Scott and I are going to Palmetto Bluff for a “discovery” visit. Basically it’s an opportunity for me to see Palmetto Bluff and the locations where I’ll be leading workshops. I want to take lots of photos so that I can not only create paintings for the gallery but plan for my students. Planning is everything for workshops. I want to make the most of our time so that they get as much painting time as possible. I also like to create worksheets packed with information that they can refer to during the workshop and once the workshop is over. 

KITTY CITY

What can I say? They’re buckwild. Louis is outta control. I cannot draw anything around him because all he wants to do is play with the pencil. He will eat anything left on the counter. If I wash berries in the sink, it’s an all out battle to keep him out of the colander. Meanwhile, Winnie has zero interest in human food. I bought a laser pointer recently, and they go bonkers when I pick it up. Louis will chase it all over the house until he is panting like a dog. And then of course, it’s crash time. Today he brought a fuzzy ball to me and waited for me to throw it. Then he actually brought it back to me for another throw, and another and another and another and …well, you get the idea.

Otis is doing okay. He’s the mature man of the house and spends a lot of time snoozing in the guest bedroom window, baking in the sun. He curls up with me at night and still brings his woobies up and down the stairs. I think he’s in the acceptance phase, with an occasional hiss or two. 

Thanks for reading! Let’s count the days til fall, shall we?

Otis does not like having his picture taken but he still loves rooting under the covers in the morning.

Winnie likes Jeopardy

Lou likes the F1 show, Drive to Survive