Meet the Artist: Beth Winterburn
Hi sweet friends!
It’s Summer and we are loving the sunshine that comes with this beautiful month! This month we have had the honor of working with our dear friend Beth Winterburn. Beth has been working with our gallery for years now and is such a joy to know. Her art is full of color and depth. We absolutely love the pieces she has created for you guys! Before we launch Beth’s Incredible collection, we want you to get to know her as a person first. This week we asked Beth 6 get to know you questions. Below are her answers:
1. Where are you from and how does that affect your work?
I’m from all over the South: South Carolina, Mississippi, Texas, and Tennessee. I’ve lived the longest in Tennessee, but my formative years were spent in a small town in Mississippi. My older brother is a professional musician, and he and I joke that when you grow up in a small town, you have to learn to be creative because there isn’t anything else to do with your time. I don’t know that my creating art has everything to do with where I’m from, but it absolutely plays a part. I’ve been creating for as long as I can remember and have been surrounded by creative people for equally as long. My grandfather was a professional photographer, my grandmother dabbled in pastels, and my cousins are printmakers, musicians, and photographers. So as much as it may have been bred by my surroundings or even a lack thereof, I guess creating is also in my blood.
2. Tell me about your favorite medium.
My favorite medium has been inks and acrylics for a long time now, but I’ve recently added soft pastels and oil sticks to my arsenal and have enjoyed the way they play with and against one another. I started with watercolor - a favorite from my art school days - but I wasn’t satisfied with the saturation, so I pulled out an old bottle of ink and tried it out using watercolor techniques, and the rest is history.
3. Where do you find inspiration?
I find inspiration in several places — mostly in interactions, whether they be human to human, nature to human, or nature to nature. The processes of interactions are interesting to me - the way birds interact with the air, the way children interact with one another, the way introverts interact with an extroverted world, and so on. The list is unending, making it an ongoing source of inspiration.
4. What motivates you to create?
I’ve often found it easier to communicate via materials in a physical way than to put words together in a way that feels effective. For me, creating is like record-keeping, journaling, or processing. It’s a way for me to get thoughts and ideas outward and process through them rather than bottling them up. Each collection feels like a moment in time - like a fully formed thought or idea, expressed in movement, color, and marks. As I begin a collection, I find that the physical making informs my thoughts and vice versa. It’s a living activity, one that I’m able to interact with in real-time and then see the results of that process in the end.
5. What's one piece of advice you would give your younger self, artist to artist?
Just make art. Don’t worry about all of the trappings that surround it. Do what comes naturally, not what you feel others want from you. The only sustainable work is the work that you love to make. Don’t be afraid of failure. Often the biggest leaps in growth come just when you’re ready to give up. Show up, do the work, and the rest will fall into place.
6. Dream vacation?
I was able to go with my daughter on her senior class trip to Italy this year, and it was incredibly dreamy. It’s hard to imagine any place better at the moment. I used to think my dream destination would be Bora Bora, but I’ve fallen in love with places that have charm and character and history more so as I’ve gotten older, so now I dream of Scotland, Ireland, or the French countryside.
Beth is a phenomenal artist and we are BEYOND excited to be partnering with her this month to showcase her talent. Her exclusive collection will be available Friday, June 14th at 10:00 A.M. CST in our online shop. The color and depth of these pieces in unmatched. We can’t wait for you to see them!