Paint with a Seriousness/ Beth Bojarski

 When it comes to painting, Beth Bojarski https://bethbojarski.com/ has three rules. "Don't take yourself too seriously. Don't take your subject matter too seriously.  But paint with a seriousness." Beth compares her creative process to looking up at the clouds and seeing what imagery emerges. Her characters arise from the board as she works tirelessly to allow the humanity to show through her subjects while expressing her clever sense of humor.

To watch her YouTube series, See Saw Project, follow this link https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxCgo2AN4N_nU55fIqt8QOw

In today's intro, Douglas and Will discuss the challenges of being on the road for the last two weeks and when a big show doesn't work for you. Thanks to Dylan Strzynski, there is now an Independent Artist Podcast drinking game. Find out which of the co-hosts common phrases gives you permission to take a sip.

Visual artists Douglas Sigwarth https://www.sigwarthglass.com/ and Will Armstrong http://www.willarmstrongart.com/ co-host and discuss topics affecting working artists. Each episode is a deep dive into a conversation with a guest artist who shares their unique experiences as an independent professional artist.

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Transcript

0:00
[Music] foreign
0:12
dependent artist podcast sponsored by the National Association of Independent
0:17
Artists also sponsored by zapplication I'm will Armstrong and I'm a mixed media artist I'm Douglas sigworth glassblower
0:25
join our conversations with professional working artists
0:30
well here we are back on the podcast Douglas and I don't mind sharing with you and our listeners honestly August is
0:37
typically my low point in ability or interest in doing the show really um
0:43
yeah I just it's it's been a long summer it's been a great summer but we've been Tarzan and guests here Vine Divine and
0:49
one person into the house and out of the house and uh I just need to get some work done so I'm a little uh just as in
0:56
visitors to the Armstrong household yes yeah uh visitors we gotta you know it's uh the the burden and the the joy of
1:04
living in a vacation Community people like to Vacation here which is awesome but um no I couldn't relate to I mean I've
1:10
been on the road here two weeks we just pulled in like a day and a half ago we're flying back for for a show in the
1:17
mountains here we're just home for a few days and the list is long so yeah we love the show we love we love the
1:24
reactions we love everybody's enthusiasm towards it but today it feels a little bit like work doesn't it will it does
1:29
the reactions actually keep us going we were just talking about that off the air and had a chance to talk to a couple of
1:36
people here at the last show that I was in I've only been gone for about a week and a half we took a tiny little bit of
1:42
time to ourselves with with nobody um this is how we enjoyed our our time
1:48
well you had mentioned taking a gondola ride up to the top of the mountain was that in in Utah uh no we were in Idaho
1:56
in Sun Valley oh wow okay so you took that's a that's a big one up there we got up to 9 100 feet it was pretty
2:03
intense that's insane so we took a much smaller one we were in in the mountains
2:08
of Utah and and my wife reached for her phone at the top of the peak to take a
2:13
picture she's got the better camera on her phone she had dropped it fell out of her unzipped purse somewhere along the
2:20
ride oh up up the mountain on the chairlift the mountain yeah on the chair
2:25
left so um I did have you know we used the whole I'm not trying to plug apple or certain not getting any any um
2:33
any money for this maybe we should but uh I've used a little find my iPhone feature and she plugged it into that and
2:40
we backtracked as soon as we we got onto Wi-Fi because there was no signal up there okay it managed to give a location
2:47
coordinate in it it we tracked it all the way back so we took the lift all the way back down then halfway back up and
2:54
then hiked back down to find it and and only broke the just a little crack in the screen protectors is all she had and
3:01
you found it well like that's I mean that's a that's a happy ending you know but then you spend your whole freaking
3:07
day you know like oh we've got the day off and it's like let's try to find your phone that you don't want to look at anyway that's right you're trying to
3:14
avoid right man that that sucked we did the same though we took uh we didn't
3:19
lose our phone but we we did the same we took a ride up the mountain we the first half of the right at um in Ketchum there
3:26
in Sun Valley it is a gondola ride because they have the Deep canyons and I
3:32
am a little bit afraid of heights and brunette yeah and I didn't know that it was going to affect me that bad Renee is
3:37
like keeping me calm I'm like and then when we got to the next level you can do the chairlift to the very top
3:44
which was 9 000 feet and she says well if that kind of threw you I don't know if you're going to want
3:50
to do the chair lift and I did I did it it was fine it was great I was really happy I did it so I you know the heights
3:57
don't affect me I'm um I'm a huge we'll see for snakes didn't see any snakes so I'm okay that was my why did it have to
4:03
be snakes did you know that I'm a snake wrangler what I am a snake wrangler did you know
4:11
this story have I ever told it on the pod uh you you never have
4:16
you don't want me to tell it are you gonna get a little go ahead go ahead it's just uh yeah that's that's what I
4:22
heard about you Doug that's I heard you were snake wrangler what they're saying behind us okay all right all right all
4:29
right I know where this is going but no we're in that's I'm just leaving it alone okay we're in the studio one day years ago
4:37
and uh Renee's looking at the pile of raw materials or batches and bags right
4:43
right directly behind our bench yeah and she looks over and she thinks oh geez how did that leather belt get out here
4:50
and then she Zoom you know Zooms in on it and she realizes it's a snake uh that had made it into
4:58
our studio and was just kind of hanging out within feet of my hand where I dip the block into the water and she goes
5:05
now I don't want to alarm you or anything but um there's a snake about three inches
5:11
from your hand and we're in the middle of this piece and she's thinking we're not gonna like throw this piece away I just took it and
5:17
I just threw it in the can and we you know we left the studio so we're thinking how do we get rid of this snake well we have this hook that
5:25
we use to open and shut our our doors you know for the ovens and stuff and so
5:30
I took that metal hook I went over and I go to scoop it up and the whole time her
5:35
dad is like uh who lives next door he's like a camper because I do have a good
5:40
time is to spend a week out in the woods right so she's wanting to call her fine yeah like why what a nightmare she's
5:48
like let me call my dad have Dad come over and take care of this he's the perfect person to do it and something
5:54
came over me that I just kind of felt a little bit emboldened like how dare you come into my space
6:00
and I kind of scoop up this uh snake and then I I pinch it and I realize I've got
6:06
it stuck under this hook and I go Renee grab me the ax she's like no wait for my
6:13
dad wait for my dad I'm and then I'm starting to feel really confident I'm like get me the ax
6:19
I chopped that head right off the snake right there in front of me yeah the
6:24
snake head flips around detached from the body and looks up at me because it hasn't you
6:30
know it takes a while for it to completely die flips around at me sticks out its tongue and its little beady eyes
6:37
like I'm gonna get you [ __ ] horrifying it was so since then Renee
6:42
calls me the snake wrangler and no snakes have come back would have meant the snake would have
6:48
lived was it a poisonous snake or no it's probably a bull snake but um ah you
6:54
should have let him live that's what they all say yeah maybe we would have kept more mice out of our studio that's
7:00
you know that's a thing if you have mice uh the snakes appear yeah so maybe you have maybe the the mice were coming in
7:06
to get all toasty and warm I hope our artist friends don't hate me for well decapitating that's nice for that many
7:15
other reasons lovable uh that's the me I'm catching
7:20
the ire these days um yeah you know in uh New Mexico that's the land of the poisonous snakes but in
7:26
Minnesota and up here we don't even have poisonous snake up here at all like if you see a snake it's just like you you
7:32
can just let it go but you know the old uh uh what's it called the the fight or
7:37
flight I'm just I'm I'm flight on that that's right I was fighting kicked in I'm just kind of it's something huge and
7:44
the thing is I've told the kids so I'm like you don't need to be afraid of them they're not gonna hurt you but for some
7:49
reason I just was like get out of my studio yeah plus the emasculation of
7:55
like oh let me get Dad yeah right you know what I think that is really what what kicked it in right there it was
8:01
like I couldn't handle it it also you're like oh Dad is that what you need give me the ax dad right here here's your
8:08
daddy here's daddy Renee here he is here's give me the ax oh well it's not
8:14
that doesn't seem like it's too hard for us just to jump right back into a conversation is it I guess so yeah you
8:20
know I mean everybody's like oh you're gonna talk we had a car breakdown my truck broke down on the way to Park City
8:25
this past weekend and um it's the least interesting story you could possibly
8:30
have like a bunch of people had car trouble this week and you handle it you know it's like well we left pain in the
8:36
ass so I mean that was the best I mean there's no Story I mean I guess there's a story but it's like it's just boring
8:41
right I'll try to give you the Reader's Digest condensed version because I really do think you know we all have
8:47
Road trouble and it's pretty much just how do you handle it and we had time for one repair and it took two uh the
8:53
biggest takeaway for it was that it happened at a gas station so it wasn't that big of a deal my kids were
8:59
um immediately on their phones trying to see where the closest U-Haul was while I was inside dealing with a mechanic
9:05
nobody freaked out we just dealt with our [ __ ] and moved on you know turned into team Armstrong everybody got got to
9:12
work it was good Susan sat down with the girls and got to work and they were like pulling up U-Haul places and and hotels
9:19
and what we could do for the night and I I was trying to find a mechanic and the mechanic was less than a mile so drove
9:26
it dropped it off the water pump uh wasn't all that it took needed a belt um too much time so we rented a U-Haul
9:33
so yeah made it there you had to miss the first preview but you were there bright and early Saturday morning ready
9:40
to go yeah and hats off to to a bunch of folks that offered to to help set up but our buddy Michael schwegman was out
9:46
there and and uh big huge thank you to him he didn't even really ask if we needed help just showed up and got to
9:52
work so that was awesome that's awesome yeah super good guy yeah but you know
9:57
um then we're driving around sexy Park city in in a 15-foot U-Haul Van um it's
10:03
like but whatever right people can't be sexy all the time Douglas no no that's
10:10
true but um hey this actually makes me think of of something and that is I
10:15
noticed at the last two shows I was at this conversation came up a few times and that was like when there are these
10:22
long moments in between like interested people talking it's how you know how your energy can
10:28
really dip I mean in your situation you show up you get through all of that how do you like
10:34
not like not be exhausted for one stressed about the whole deal how do you
10:39
keep that energy up while you know you're trying to make sales and make a living I don't know you just gotta do I
10:45
don't know I kind of had a crappy Saturday I had most of my sales on Sunday so oh um maybe I didn't right
10:51
maybe I just didn't I think that's that's um you know I think that's the honest
10:57
answer I don't I think I was way off of my game and and especially needing that Friday night kickoff and having a whole
11:04
third of the show and uh if I'm looking at my my numbers for the show I was a
11:10
third off um exactly a third off of what I can typically expect to to nail it at that
11:16
show so maybe that's what you know missed a third of the show it was a third of the prophets I've also heard
11:22
from other people that but that isn't that is a kind of a common number that even those who were
11:29
there the whole weekend at their shows this whole run have been feeling like they're down a third and wondering
11:36
wondering if it's a trend wondering if it's the news if it who knows I mean
11:41
there's so many different things out there that affect the buying energy and the enthusiasm so yeah there really are
11:47
hey uh speaking of doing shows in the mountains do you ever find that you are
11:52
prone to altitude sickness no I live in Santa Fe it's like 6 500
11:59
feet so yeah I'm used to it but you know that that is true I did go to visit a friend in Denver one time and
12:05
um I was like just really lagging it felt kind of thievery and
12:10
um but of course the first thing that I did when I landed in in Denver was to drink beer and they're like that totally
12:17
helps oh yeah that's that's really good for you how about you uh altitude ever gets you guys well I I get a little
12:24
sluggish but Renee gets extremely affected and she looked into it going
12:30
there because I know some people will will breathe into those you know those cans of oxygen and they say that that it
12:36
helped and I thought I would check with the doctor before we left just to find out options
12:42
and they said well yeah it helps but literally those oxygen cans help for the
12:47
second you inhale it it doesn't like last longer than than that little bit of huffing but he said they do make a
12:53
medication and she tried it this time and it does come with its pros and cons it makes you so tired you take it ahead
13:03
of time what it's doing is it's like it is changing I think if I have it right
13:08
it's changing the pH of your blood so you can assimilate to the oxygen levels
13:13
better and so it takes three days of taking this medication but the downside is we're traveling and we're driving you
13:20
know you can't drive when you're on this stuff because it makes you so tired yeah once you got to Park City man she was on
13:27
top of the world she felt no issues with altitude because her body had already acclimated before she got there but that
13:33
meant someone else did all the driving yeah that's a bummer that's um that's crazy we had our driving so we since we
13:40
had the kids with us at U-Haul only sits three oh there um we had to rent we it wasn't just renting one we had rent two
13:47
oh because we had to get the girls back to their mom so we did a little Smokey in the Bandit action and and uh Susan
13:53
rented a car and had the girls and I had the the big truck and she's just like Eastbound and Down just loaded up and
13:59
truck and she went out and and cleared all the Smokies out of my way and I tried to push on through okay yeah it
14:05
just wasn't it was just a no fun it was a no fun week honestly it's just a typically a weekend that I look forward
14:11
to all year and zero zero fun um moving on speaking about zero fun
14:18
um I did have a question from an artist on the street uh just this uh two weekends ago and he asked me he had a
14:25
terrible weekend and he was asking me and I already know the answer because I already and while I answered him but
14:30
I'll ask you and get your opinion but he was saying well when do you when do you look at at um you know
14:37
these shows that you've been looking forward to that you've heard these great things about that you tank
14:44
like how do you handle that how do you how do you handle tanking like a show that you expect it to be great are you
14:51
saying like you go back and give it another try do you do I don't know you tell me how do you handle it mentally
14:56
how do you what do you do would you ever try it again would you try it again with different work I mean there's a lot of
15:01
different factors that go into it I mean you know the sometimes it really just
15:07
comes down to did we have any good conversations with people who seemed interested if it was
15:13
that nobody came in the booth and nobody interacted with the work well that might tell you your audience our audience
15:19
isn't there but like for example the last two shows we did
15:25
um we left with a number of potential projects that could happen after showing
15:31
them what we do and if we make it and show them it could turn into a lead so there's that see and that's what I kind
15:38
of told him I was like well you look for you look for reasons or you look for excuses your work may not just go over
15:43
in this market where was your location did you have a bad location in the show maybe it's just because you were new
15:50
maybe that's just not what they were looking for sometimes you are the backdrop to
15:55
somebody else's great show there's a great quote by the band The drive-by truckers where they have been the
16:02
opening act for a bigger act and people have come out and they typically draw and they didn't draw that night and they
16:09
just threw the opening act and they set up their things and then they go and their people are there for somebody else and I like in a lot of what we do to to
16:16
music and musicians and traveling musicians but the quote is it ain't my
16:21
crowd and it ain't my night but I'd be lying if I said I can't relate I'm just the opening act and the van is packed
16:26
and I'm hauling ass to the next state and it's I mean it's just so apropos to what we do
16:32
um you just pack your stuff like if you're if you're typically doing well it shows you're typically hitting these
16:39
averages that you're happy with and then all of a sudden you have a clunker of a weekend even though you think that your
16:44
booth looked great then it's not it's not you it's the show and it didn't work for you and there are plenty of the big
16:50
shows out there that just don't work for everybody and and you can't let it shake
16:56
you off of your game I mean you're right when you say that you know sometimes you can look at it and go well I was in a
17:01
bad Booth location or you know I mean those sorts of things you can maybe tweak and give it another another shot
17:08
but when it's not the right show there's nothing to feel bad about it's just seek
17:13
out the right show and just keep on I agree yeah and Douglas by any chance I
17:19
was kind of hoping you'd say this but by any chance were you thinking of saying the word pivot do I say it a lot
17:24
well uh Dylan strzinski told me that he created the independent artist podcast
17:30
drinking game and whatever you say pivot he drinks and whenever I say shake you
17:36
off your game he drinks and unfortunately he's in the hospital after last week
17:43
s he's no he's not in the hospital friends he's fine but uh you know uh
17:49
he's having a really good time listening to the last episode because he got a wasted
17:54
exactly so um thank you so much for tuning in and take your criticisms and
17:59
sure hey you tried doing this and just spontaneously come up with a whole new
18:06
language every time you speak that's right I'll show you okay get ready to drink
18:12
here uh Dylan speaking of pivot it's time to Pivot to our guests this week what do you think of that huh yeah is
18:19
she gonna shake me off my game I think she's gonna really shake you off your game because you know what Beth bojarski
18:24
is somebody I've been wanting to talk to for a long time so yeah I'm jealous of this one I'm I'm uh happy to sit down
18:31
and be a fly on the wall but I I love Beth and and her work and and what an
18:36
incredible human that is so thank you for talking to her and um looking forward to this one myself all right
18:42
well here we go here is Beth bojarski from Milwaukee Wisconsin
18:47
this episode of The Independent artist podcast is brought to you by zap the digital application service where
18:53
artists and art festivals connect hey well do you remember the old way of doing these applications with red dots
18:59
on the slides and self-addressed stamped envelopes do you still have a rotary phone Douglas no I don't remember that
19:07
well I just like that they were with us back then when we made the switch from analog to digital it's a huge switch and
19:14
now zap is the industry standard and they're always creating features that make our lives easier too so I do like
19:20
what zap does and I do like that most of the shows I apply to are ons application
19:25
exactly so I personally appreciate what zap is doing and thanks for not making us reinvent the wheel every single week
19:32
like we used to have to do basketball jarsky welcome to the podcast I've been wanting to talk to you for a
19:39
long time I was just telling will that but you didn't know that of course I'm sorry I don't mean to put any pressure
19:45
on you I'm glad I didn't know that well I've seen you a couple times this
19:52
year a few good shows yeah you're having a good Good Year how's everything going with you out here on the road so far the
19:59
summer has been good where am I at I think I'm at maybe seven
20:04
shows for the year total so I've done five I only have two more shows left
20:10
which is St Louis and then going to Plaza so not a really heavy show
20:17
schedule but they're going just fine I'm happy with them is that like the perfect kind of number for you is is seven for
20:24
me it is it is we Mark can do more than I can he doesn't do a lot more but he
20:29
can and I find seven like nine is pushing it I just
20:35
need that time in the studio okay well you mentioned Mark for those listeners
20:40
who don't know you mark winter is your husband and he was a guest on the show a
20:46
couple years back will interviewed him Mark winter I for uh have to dig up what
20:51
the name of his episode was something a bucket full of rattlesnakes that's what it was
20:57
about the title [Laughter]
21:02
but yeah so you guys couldn't be more polar opposite in your bodies of work would you say I would say yes and no the
21:12
work has morphed a little bit so there is a little more of a um contrast now
21:18
but kind of early on he was doing characters that you would have thought
21:24
in a sense jumped out of my paintings oh interesting yes because my work started out being a
21:33
lot more a lot more raw a lot more cartoonish and then I would incorporate
21:42
a lot of sass in the paintings and then I had writing on the paintings so there
21:49
was more there was a little more of a tie early on and and does some of that
21:56
uh what you were talking about does that come from your graphic illustration kind of background where I came from
22:03
everybody started your initial work as far as initial work it almost was
22:08
opposite of what I was doing oh um yeah because I I was trained in watercolor I
22:15
went to school I went to Kendall College of Art and Design and uh as an illustrator and I was doing really tight
22:23
watercolor paintings uh very photorealistic there was so much detail
22:29
I remember seeing those early pieces that you showed on your on on seesaw
22:34
which was a YouTube program that that you were creating during the pandemic
22:40
as an opportunity for people to you know since we couldn't go anywhere to see you
22:46
guys online which was great it was brilliant right get to know us get to know other artists get to kind of come
22:53
into our world for a moment we had a conversation as we're doing now we
22:59
couldn't go out to during the pandemic and meet people and find our people so
23:05
we invited them into our world which I thought was really interesting totally I
23:11
feel it did what we wanted it to accomplish and I miss it I do yeah well
23:17
everything I guess has its momentum time obviously for to sustain something like
23:23
that into this kind of Market that we all do is tough I mean
23:28
podcast is is kind of tough to squeeze it in I mean I can we add video production on top of that it's it's a
23:35
full-time job yes exactly likely it was a full-time job I don't think I've
23:41
I don't know if I've ever worked harder really really I was oh my gosh I was
23:46
pushing it um just to learn everything that was involved as far as creating videos and
23:52
I'm not super computer savvy so there was a huge learning curve and then as
23:59
well as trying to still turn out a body bodies of work because I thought oh now
24:04
is my opportunity to get ahead of myself to catch up to right to your head of the
24:10
game you have the inventory waiting to take the shows when it opens up exactly
24:18
but kind of going back then to as you saw in one of the Seesaw episodes kind
24:24
of my early work yeah that's what I studied I studied the watercolor I studied doing these really tight
24:29
photorealistic paintings and then I wasn't doing any of them so I graduated and then I just stopped painting because
24:37
they took so long um they took so long and just my subject
24:43
matter there wasn't a lot of Personality my personality in it so I just was I
24:50
stopped painting so because it was a chore it was just something that like it
24:56
wasn't as fun right I didn't yet know what I wanted to paint I was painting
25:03
and technically I could paint but I didn't I didn't have a grasp on what I wanted
25:08
to say yet cool and so when I did start painting I switched to oil paint loved
25:15
them immediately love them for those of us who don't work with paint I mean how are they different how is how are the
25:21
materials different oh it's just well in this case number one the feel oh my
25:28
goodness it's you just know it when you you just you feel it it's just I don't
25:37
even know what it's like you know sure but it was an immediate attraction how the medium flowed it was just right for
25:43
you um and what it did by switch it when you
25:51
I was working with the watercolor I needed to know what I was going to paint I needed to
25:57
have it all planned out because that's watercolor you make up you make a mark the Mark is made it's complete it
26:05
um with the oil paint it gave me time to move the paints around the paints
26:11
wouldn't set so I was figuring it all out on the board
26:17
which then that became my process I would I would just sit down in front of
26:22
a board and I'd move paint around and then I started kind of having fun
26:27
with my subject matter and that's why it was cartoonish that's why it was there
26:33
was a lot of sass because I I'd like to tell a story that that's silly or that
26:39
might be a little uncomfortable that might make you think that might slap you across the face yeah
26:46
I like I like to slap people across the face don't slap me across the face right now
26:54
I was wondering so I don't know if I if I have this correct but do I understand
26:59
that have you described that you will you'll start doing a color blocking kind
27:06
of without an idea of where the where your painting is going to go and then it kind of like a Direction Just emerges
27:13
through the process is that true that's true so how I work is I just put color
27:20
on a board and I block it in different colors so there's a little bit of a
27:25
something interesting happening besides just something being all blue or something um and I thinned the paint down so it
27:33
almost goes on like a watercolor so it's blotchy and it's it's like looking up at
27:38
the clouds and and trying to see something in um it's a lot like that I will I will start seeing things in the
27:46
blotches of color that I put on the board and start pulling them out and I
27:52
used to have a Sketchbook right next to me you know I'd have funny thoughts and
27:57
I'd do little bitty sketches and I realized pretty early on that I would I would
28:04
fall in love with that little thumbnail I did that little sketch and if I tried to do it if I tried to put it on the
28:10
board I lost interest the energy was gone the the creativity and all the energy was in
28:18
the sketch and it was done oh and and I I never liked the
28:25
conversion onto the board as much as I liked the initial little sketch so I
28:31
stopped sketching I just thought you know what let's just put all that energy
28:36
into the painting itself as I'm doing it and then I won't have that disappointment I love that it's almost
28:43
like instead of trying to make this thing in front of you turn into something that you had thought about a
28:51
while back it's almost like it's evolving in front of you and you're having a conversation with it as it goes
28:57
it is I have to stay focused with it I have to engage it the whole time and I
29:05
just I'm spending so much time with the painting to begin with that I might as
29:11
well you know do all the work right there with it and that means erasing I could the amount of
29:19
times Mark has walked into the studio and I put three days of work into a
29:25
figure and then it's gone and then a whole section is going on it's like
29:30
where did that piece go and you're like oh it's here it's just been painted over exactly I unpaint sometimes almost as
29:38
much as I paint okay yeah I take away I put back on I build there are paintings
29:43
with four paintings under them oh wow I was talking this past weekend with Amy
29:49
Lee Carson and Daphne Covington and they said sometimes they feel like they need to charge you know they do abstracts and
29:56
sometimes they feel like they have to charge the price of five paintings for a piece that maybe they've they've gone
30:01
back and redone a few times I mean the title element is that something you experience too then it sounds like it it
30:09
does it is which I liked to me there's a secret painting under it that nobody
30:14
knows about but I I know that somebody's under there who you know didn't quite
30:20
make the cut but morphed into something more powerful more beautiful more you
30:25
know right you know what what you're describing is quite similar to what I
30:30
feel like our process is with glass because there is such a conversation
30:35
with the medium and the material and it changes I mean we can't make the
30:41
glass and like if we've passed a point or past a step and the material doesn't want to do it we can't go back and try
30:47
and force it into something it's not and right yours isn't so much
30:52
um the the function of of that but it is an also like what you're creating and
30:58
the story you're telling and if it feels right or personal or whatever you're
31:04
trying to say is right and there there's a point that
31:10
I'm pulling whoever this care out right I I see the eye I see the nose
31:15
I start developing it they need some hair maybe an ear there is a point in the painting that I have to then decide
31:22
okay what is this what makes this character interesting what do they have to say what is the story that I'm gonna
31:28
tell and so I do have to then then direct it so it's not completely a
31:36
free flow of thought um yeah it I gotta head somewhere with it in fact I am
31:42
staring at three paintings currently in my studio where I thought I knew what direction I wanted them to go
31:48
and I don't and I'm stuck now because until until I can move that paint around
31:56
and it can talk to me I can't move forward with them so oh yeah
32:01
I mean are they don't get stuck I was gonna say are there periods that it just becomes almost like an impasse where you
32:08
know you how do you get past that I mean what what have you done in the past I'd pick up another board and I start
32:15
another piece and I I just you know it's
32:21
not a breakup where you need a little room from each other you know you need a little space from each other
32:26
um but kind of you put it to the side we've been maybe we spent too much time together yeah it's like an enmeshment
32:32
right exactly we need a moment now we need to see other people
32:38
exactly learn from other people there you go from another painting and then
32:45
um and then a lot of the time to my head and get you there and I'll
32:52
yeah get me there and sometimes it doesn't and sometimes they get abandoned and that's okay I also had read about
32:59
you that you know a lot of the times the message is a deeply personal one like
33:05
it's something that you identify in yourself or maybe like a something we might be a
33:12
little insecure about or something quirky about ourselves and then that
33:17
becomes the Forefront of the whole piece yes I do like to paint more awkward
33:25
people or awkward moments because we all have them number one right right and
33:31
sometimes just making them more commonplace than just putting them out there and laughing at yourself and
33:38
laughing that's the best thing you can do is laugh at yourself and not take yourself too seriously and I think just
33:45
by doing that it just makes people more comfortable around each other it is it's
33:52
like sharing what is kind of personal and vulnerable and without I don't know insecurity or
34:00
just saying that hey this is it this is me other people then have have a safe space to do the same
34:06
I had done a painting of birds
34:11
I think I think the staying on it said they gathered up the fingers that no one
34:17
seemed to want or something like that there were there were Little Chickadees
34:22
and each had a finger in their mouth and they were gathering them into a nest and somebody came in and saw the piece
34:31
and then was asking me questions about it why why did you pick that subject matter why did they have the fingers
34:37
what are they going to do with them and that's what I said that just if somebody
34:43
loses a limb or something or a finger people can be awkward about that you know and even just questioning what
34:50
happened or yeah it's an imperfection and some people see that imperfection and it kind of it puts up a block or it
34:58
makes somebody hesitant to connect with that person and we had this really really lovely conversation and as the
35:07
person left I had turned already to talk to someone else and he said Hey Beth and
35:14
I turned and he held his hand up to the painting and he was missing fingers and he held it up right to where one of the
35:21
fingers was painted on the painting so it completed his hand and he had the biggest smile on his face and just waved
35:28
and walked away and I just yeah went yeah yeah it was a beautiful moment do
35:34
you ever think in in those moments where maybe the imagery even to you might seem obscure or like
35:42
where did that come from and then you have a situation like that and you're like okay you know whether they buy it
35:48
or not it still resonated with with somebody absolutely absolutely regardless of of why I would put
35:58
um something on a painting maybe my story is something different but somebody connects with it
36:04
in their own way see something in it that I may be in that case you know
36:11
fingers are very specific but yeah there certainly are things in paintings that I wouldn't have thought of or a story that
36:18
I wouldn't have thought of that someone else does and I just think that's so wonderful that there is there can be
36:24
layers you know there can be layers to a story that everyone can take what they
36:30
need to from it and see what they need to in the piece the other thing I noticed
36:36
that I I really love about your work is kind of that whole aspect of irony
36:41
and that is like you know you might have a very detailed portrait of somebody
36:46
who's maybe sitting up straight and looks very formal and maybe traditional
36:51
in one sense but then there's just something off like they might have a spoon stuck on their nose or they might
36:58
be cross-eyed or something like that where it's like they're proud to show
37:04
you know this this thing that is just like unusual and it always cracks me up it's like where does she come up with
37:10
these ideas right and and that's the whole
37:19
and I felt I could really be sassy and tell these crazy stories but but my goal
37:26
always to to get Tighter and Tighter with the
37:32
figure and bring more um more realism to the story
37:37
so that slowly I'll let you know when I think I'm there because I'm not there yet
37:44
um but just I I want it to be your you know look like your neighbor or your
37:49
friend a real life setting with the staff with the spoon on the nose with
37:55
the sniffing the glue um I I it was something I didn't know I
38:01
could do in the beginning when I would be sassy in the with the cartoon look it made sense
38:08
but I was nervous can I tell that same type of story
38:14
but with more you know realistic characters and I I I'm trying to tighten
38:22
up how I paint and get I spend more time with them I'm not quite there I'm
38:28
working on it but if you're not quite there then a lot of us are nowhere near there because I think a lot of us think
38:35
of you as you know as one of the tops out there I am I
38:45
so overwhelmed that shows by just the skill and the talent of the artists
38:51
around me yeah that I I feel like oh my gosh I've got to catch
38:57
up I've got to keep up with these with with my fellow artists because I am
39:03
absolutely Blown Away by by what my friends and uh fellow artists
39:10
turn out so for me it's a it's a constant just just up my game I gotta up
39:17
it I got up my game well would you say that that you know the the connections with people in this
39:25
industry in this art fair world really is a good driving force for you
39:30
and your work like it's the absolute perfect fit for you to keep growing and exploring your work and and doing what
39:37
you do absolutely absolutely no but I mean the
39:42
fact that it takes the it takes me so long to to create the work I am in the
39:48
studio a lot usually about 11 12 hours a day
39:53
um really so yeah and so the fact that I'm doing these shows
40:02
that brings artists together that gives me that that energizes me refuels me I
40:10
also get to see work so if if I were to bring it to a gallery I'm not spending
40:16
time with other work as much I'm not getting to see what other artists are turning out I'm not being able to talk
40:24
about the process with other artists I mean and collectors you you love that don't you yeah just uh plus I mean for
40:32
the amount of time every single day that you're in your studio that could really I mean
40:38
you turn out great work being in the studio that often but it could make you crazy being in your studio that often
40:44
you need a break you need to get out and see the world and be amongst people and exactly right I I paint for myself I
40:53
Envision okay I I would put this on my wall so it's it's still I don't know
41:00
there's still a little bit of a oh my gosh when somebody says that they want to put it on their wall you know right
41:07
but that is like it's an honor yes absolutely absolutely
41:13
so you don't I mean some of us out here probably operate from a place of will it
41:18
sell who's going to want it sounds like you're truly being internally driven by
41:24
what you like and what you would want to hang in your house and see and live with yeah right I
41:32
I think early on there was
41:38
might like and that just installs my process it it's just I just paint
41:46
things that make me happy and right and even color palettes change based on
41:53
what's happening in my world so I know that kind of during that pandemic I my
42:00
whole palette got brighter and and cheerier and and why do you think
42:08
that was because some people felt like the pandemic was a period of where things got dark for them you and I
42:14
needed that brightness then so I needed to I needed to see in the
42:21
paintings reflected just something again if I you know that's going to go in my wall I want now something that I can
42:28
look at that that Poppy and that's lifting and that that makes me happy right so you're painting for you you're
42:36
speaking to yourself if it resonates great another kind of external force
42:42
that a lot of people you know it kind of gets in the way of process is the whole
42:47
idea of awards and I mean the shows I've been at this year you you take home
42:54
pretty good Awards do the awards ever mess with your head I was lucky to win Awards this year it's
43:03
not a common place um that I do it's unexpected it floors me I get weepy
43:12
I get um and it's funny because I do have a painting of an old 18th 17th century
43:20
person where they used to wear these really big collars really big stiff
43:26
accordion like collars and like Elizabeth yes and I've turned it into a blue
43:32
ribbon so it is funny you said that because there's a painting I'm showing it right now where I'm trying to figure
43:37
out what what her story is why does this I don't know maiden or queen I don't
43:43
even know if she'll be a queen or something okay just that that standard portrait why does she have the big blue ribbon on interesting I'm not sure yet
43:51
we'll be right back we have a call for entry this week Douglas with some new information added
43:58
onto it the Oklahoma City Arts Festival they listen to their artists this year
44:03
have you heard about this that's pretty cool it's always been a six Day Festival which has been a really long event but
44:09
the artist said we couldn't do the same kind of sales in four days so the show is tightening up they're going to be a
44:15
four day event this year wow Thursday through Sunday they actually still have two days for artists to load in they're
44:21
sticking with their VIP early buyer program they moved that from opening day morning to Wednesday night in
44:28
conjunction with a fundraising party so no more 14-hour opening day folks that
44:34
that's a big change and this shows a commission show so they know what people are spending and they can quote the
44:40
actual dollars collectors spent 1.83 million dollars per year on average
44:46
that's a lot of money for a fairly uh reasonable amount of artists the application is live now and they're
44:53
taking application through September 29th so runs April 25th through 28th
44:58
look for that on zap and jump on and apply so will looking back earlier this season
45:04
you spoke with uh show director Camille Marchesi and that was a great talk yeah
45:09
I wanted to talk to her Douglas because of her experience with Winter Park and then the interest in in taking over a
45:15
different show trying to to bring it back to a former glory well she reached out to us this week because she wanted
45:21
to announce that her show was open for applications and the Coconut Grove Arts Festival is now in its 60th year so it's
45:29
kind of a big year for this event those round numbers are are all important for all of us whether it's a birthday or a
45:35
big show that's managing to stay in the Limelight for that long yeah well with that 60th anniversary they're doing 300
45:42
000 in marketing so the word is going to be out it's a big deal to get down to the Grove that weekend twenty thousand
45:48
dollar average in sales based on the 2023 artist survey that's insane that is
45:54
great what yeah what I'm sorry that's on average yeah so I don't know
46:01
what your goals are but that seems like it's got to be in a lot of people's wheel houses if you're interested check
46:06
out their listing on the application the deadline to apply is September 15th if February 17th through the 19th fits into
46:13
your schedule especially with a South Florida run if you want to try to uh get into that one the application is coming
46:19
on up well I had made the reference earlier to to you and Mark having such different
46:26
work but what I wanted to kind of point out about that is I've seen you at a
46:32
number of shows where you guys do show your work some artist uh couples will have you
46:40
know booze side by side but I love how you guys can take that opportunity if
46:46
the show says it's okay and turn your to single booths into a double Booth like a
46:52
gallery and ironically I mean sharp rusty metal and comical oil paintings
47:01
don't seem like they would work together but there's something about them that just does right
47:09
complement each other I I yeah so we at jazz fest in New Orleans
47:16
that is the first time and until until this summer the only show that allowed
47:23
us to actually combine our work into one booth we could share the booth and we love doing that I
47:32
think it just obviously Mark having work on pedestals on the on the ground and then uh the
47:40
paintings on the wall the space um allows for it so totally that's great
47:46
and then just I I think it plays with each other really well
47:51
this year we asked the Cherry Creek art fair if they would allow us to merge our
48:00
work in the past a kind of uh I've been pushing it you know we create little
48:07
paths going between our booths that people so it can flow you can flow from
48:13
his Booth into mine um like you might have your walls rolled off or something so you could see both
48:20
of you together when you would do two singles or something yep and little pathways through and maybe a painting on
48:26
the side that when you're in this booth you can see it but I really wanted to completely blend that I asked the
48:34
director of the Cherry Creek show if we could do that and she said yes
48:39
I was so happy I love that we were just down the street from you and I totally loved every time I'd walk by I'd be like
48:46
I'd just take it in because I love both of your work so much and to see it together was so awesome
48:52
and a lot of our collectors and people who are following us love both of our
49:00
work so we just I just wanted to see what it looked like if we gave it the
49:05
space opened everything up and then I even I mean if we had the opportunity to
49:11
do that more often I even it affected the work because I knew Mark was working
49:16
on some spikier pieces with the nails and so I turned to balloons I just
49:24
thought to have a painting with a balloon kind of over visually sure
49:30
um one of his pieces with the spikes would just be this really playful juxtaposition and uh I I liked how it
49:38
turned out and the show seemed happy with it that's awesome so will they will we be allowed to do it in the future and
49:45
will we do it at other shows I I hope we have that opportunity I would like to be
49:51
I'd like to be ready for it the next time a little further in advance I think
49:57
okay I think we knew about it three months in advance and I need a little
50:02
more time than that yeah but really kind of think about it maybe
50:07
a little more well I mean as a married couple you've operated as you know individual artists your whole career I
50:15
mean of course you influence each other I'm sure like you might say what do you think of this and he might be like what
50:20
do you think of that and but in this regard it is a little more collaborative than like oh you want to
50:26
do that or wouldn't this be a good foil to that or something right right it would
50:32
play off each other a little more in the studios and see what comes out um
50:38
because certainly yes we've done that I know that Mark has done characters or I
50:44
have that almost we want to see what happens if it comes to life in 3D or vice versa so we do it's a good we're
50:52
good at helping each other out and getting each other through humps you
50:58
know through those stalls you know Mark will probably be up here and I will be
51:04
questioning him on some of these paintings that I told you might have me stuck a little bit it's great that he
51:11
can help me out and can you think of an example where he has kind of sometimes given you that little nudge that you
51:17
needed to be like ah the clouds have opened and I know I now see my way I
51:23
guarantee when Mark listens to this there's going to be something that jumps into his head and he's going to say yeah
51:28
I told her the that should be you know you said put my face on a balloon lady
51:35
well that was I had a while our balloon in the house
51:40
from a party and I just you know and I I was just being silly with the balloon so
51:46
that certainly was inspiring with just when Mark had his she had quite a
51:51
mustache that he was growing and I just thought yeah that's gotta that's gotta go on the
51:58
balloons but he at the moment you know as we're chatting I I I don't have
52:03
anything that jumps into mine but he has every now and then just been genius with
52:10
a well what if you know what if they're holding this and it's like oh my gosh
52:17
and then he wants the prize money of course I'll tell you he was the inspiration for
52:25
a painting I did with a huge metal cone on this guy's head
52:30
um because Mark had this huge piece of metal and he put it on over his head
52:37
um and took a picture of himself and it's one of my favorite pictures of them wow so I thought kind of like a giant
52:44
Dunst cap or whatever it looked like a giant a cone you'd put on your dog
52:49
because he licks himself too much oh that one I remember that piece right like around the neck so they won't like
52:55
yeah like a like exactly stitches or something okay yep and so I put the big cone on this guy and um two popsicles in
53:04
his hands and I called it him the over liquor so
53:11
I didn't know that was the title of the piece I love it yeah I love that
53:16
and I'll tell you that I didn't even know where it was gonna go so here's here's to kind of finish that whole I
53:24
don't know all the time sure um I completed the painting with the cone I thought the cone was going to be
53:29
enough and I thought just calling him the over liquor was enough the painting
53:35
was complete I hung it on the wall at a show and I brought it home and I went oh
53:40
my gosh she needs popsicles and so so I I didn't realize I wasn't done with
53:47
it it was even shown it was shown in you and it was still in process
53:54
it was shown in the process and I resolved it and I and it made it just
54:00
you hey it's the full belly laugh I got from you because I I told you about the
54:05
Popsicles that that is like the piece to resistance
54:11
the idea of somebody trying to get those those popsicles around the code there
54:18
you go you didn't do it you couldn't do it they were dripping in his hands well
54:23
what about the idea of I mean there's an element of distortion that you implement into your work quite brilliantly and I
54:30
know that you are you know you're trained in such realism and detail and stuff so in this process how are you
54:37
able to create I don't know like the Distortion
54:42
in the image or the face or whatever I mean is it talk on that a little bit
54:48
the Distortion was there in the beginning because um because it needed to be because I was
54:54
I I wanted to do I wanted to do these like I said these like little
55:01
flaps just a little bit of irony in the story that I think it needed it needed
55:09
to have that softness of the the cartoon to be to be approachable to have people
55:15
walk up to it to because they had the wonky eye and because they the Figures
55:22
were a little distorted I think people knew oh it's okay to laugh it's okay to it's okay to giggle it's
55:30
it's silly it's a cartoon it's funny and and then that's why I'm trying to pull
55:37
back from that and get a little tighter and a little tighter because I still want you to laugh and I I'm trying to
55:44
find where that line is I I don't want you to be afraid to laugh I don't want
55:49
you to be afraid to approach the painting I I want to still pull you in
55:54
but I want to still say what I want to say so that's I think I think that's the
56:02
dance that I'm still trying to work out and make sure so there is still Distortion but not as much as there was
56:10
one thing I would say about that is it's a fine line between laughing at the
56:17
irony laughing at the joke but you're not laughing at the character you're not laughing at
56:23
the person it's not like a mean kind of like uh at their expense there's
56:30
something just quirky exactly none of my characters I'm hoping or
56:36
anyone that you would want to poke fun at or make fun of even if somebody has
56:42
you know that wonky eye that that I I want the rest of them I want you to see
56:49
their sweetness and I want you to see see that awkwardness because when you see someone being awkward your heart
56:56
just kind of softens right or whatever you see you exactly that's what I want
57:03
you to see their Humanity that's that's how it everything it it just rolls into
57:09
just that kind of statement and I want to point out people's imperfections
57:15
because I'm sorry just nobody's perfect and right so I don't even I don't want
57:23
I don't want any of my my people to read that they are I want I
57:28
want I want everything on the board there's got to be something that's not right there's got to be something that
57:34
that has a flaw how many of us walk around feeling so insecure trying to
57:39
hide the thing that we you know don't want other people to like acknowledge or whatever and this is like an opportunity
57:46
to to just connect or to to say it's okay or to poke fun at yourself or laugh at you
57:53
know something because that's the that's you that's the human quality I I when it
57:58
comes to painting I have three rules don't take yourself too seriously don't
58:04
take your subject matter too seriously but paint with a seriousness
58:10
[Music] so I'm taking that all in so right so right that last part it's like you're
58:18
you're serious about how it turns out and about the message and all that stuff that you
58:25
don't get flippant with and that I handled it with care and that I handled these people with love and
58:32
then I handled the subject matter with um respect and
58:37
so yeah I I want you to giggle but I certainly don't want you to make fun of
58:43
anyone or you know or who you're saying that's beautiful you know one of the
58:48
things about the podcast that I am I love is the whole idea of an origin story you know I love to hear how people
58:56
who are us now as adults living in this art fair world making artwork and we
59:02
have a passion for it how we got here like was little Beth an artist
59:07
yes no no no little little Beth was not an artist no I kind of picked up I took
59:16
art classes in high school and I went to a Catholic High School and my art
59:24
teacher was brother Fabian brother brother Fabian submitted
59:30
a drawing I did to a calendar contest and it got third place and wow and I
59:37
think I was a junior in high school so I mean that was the first time you picked up a pencil to draw something right I
59:44
was drawing and and that was it and so that happened and I went oh okay maybe
59:53
if you saw the picture oh my gosh if you saw the picture oh it's it's not good
59:59
it's not good but I got third place so other people must must have fed not his
1:00:04
must have been not as good It's a Small Town
1:00:11
um yeah it was it was that what got me just thinking
1:00:18
well maybe I can be an artist and I look at other other artists who they knew
1:00:25
from when they were four they picked up you know they were drawing feverishly all their spare time was was spent
1:00:33
creating nope that wasn't me like Chris Crystal Quest when she saw
1:00:39
her story was she's a little girl and she has written in the first printing lines I want to attack pictures
1:00:47
like she knew from Little on that's what she wanted to do but it doesn't matter when it when that fire was ignited right
1:00:54
you know it was your junior year and that is that then what got you to want to go to to college for art and graphic
1:01:01
design and all that stuff and Fine Art it did that simple people that simple
1:01:06
acknowledgment and just it kind of opened my eyes and made me think well maybe I can you know draw so I spent
1:01:13
more time drawing and then yeah then my the the art teacher recommended
1:01:21
that I continue and go off to college and go to uh I think he suggested Kendall that's
1:01:29
where I went Kendall College in Grand Rapids Michigan and it was simple as
1:01:34
that well my dad was a commercial photographer
1:01:40
so uh he would take me to functions auctions take me on the set when he was
1:01:48
taking some pictures I was at his Studio a lot um so I think Mark would tell a similar
1:01:55
story his mom was an art show artist so he hovered around it you know right as
1:02:00
much as he wasn't he he would say he he didn't create any work when he was
1:02:05
smaller that he took it on when he in his early 20s or I think yeah I think he
1:02:11
was 20. the kind of I was the same thing I was around it I was around what my dad
1:02:16
did but didn't realize that there was something Brewing inside yeah what was
1:02:23
that like for you as as a youngster being on your dad's set I mean did anything
1:02:28
anything resonate or what were you thinking was it just I'm at Dad's work
1:02:33
this is what Dad does for a job yeah I was I was loved
1:02:40
I loved watching the process I didn't pick it up I I for some reason I guess I
1:02:46
knew I wasn't interested in photography and just because at that time with the cameras with the understanding shutter
1:02:53
speed and aperture and um you know I I still do not understand any of it and I
1:03:00
think they make iPhones exactly exactly I think he wishes I understand
1:03:06
but unfortunately I don't um so uh I I definitely enjoyed it I loved going to
1:03:14
all the events and openings that he would go to Gallery openings and and
1:03:20
auctions and things so loved that so I was aware of it but yeah I didn't
1:03:25
realize that that something was gonna find its way out of me well you go to
1:03:31
college and then right when you left college did you think art would be your career or were you thinking that doing
1:03:39
some kind of a corporate illustration type job would be where you would go I
1:03:45
thought that's what when I went to school I thought I would come home and I would work for an illustration house
1:03:51
there was a place in Milwaukee that I really was hoping was going to be my
1:03:57
place so that's why I went to school for illustration and that was my goal and I
1:04:02
think it was because my dad this illustration house was one of their
1:04:08
clients so they kind of worked together every now and then so I was aware of what what they were turning out they
1:04:15
were doing Billboards in town with illustrations on them I thought they were fantastic yeah I thought I would
1:04:20
end up there what I ended up doing is not painting
1:04:26
not doing what you know nothing in the field of illustration but then I got a
1:04:33
job at Kohl's department store I was their first
1:04:39
artist that they hired in their product development department to put artwork on their products mm-hmm
1:04:47
so I was their first artist I hired and then I was there for five years built up
1:04:53
their entire staff of artists 14 artists I don't know 10 or 14 artists also you
1:04:59
like you like let a group of artists yep it started with me and then built I
1:05:05
built up a staff and everything at a Kohl's store about 33 of it listen to me
1:05:11
I know the numbers um is is Cole's private label it's their own product and all that product needs
1:05:21
artwork on it and so I was doing artwork on dishes and ladies sleepwear and men's
1:05:27
swim trunk designs and anything that required a baby you know baby clothes
1:05:34
the whole Gambit and so yep then I became the art director and was that
1:05:40
whole kind of corporate experience not fulfilling is that what ultimately sent
1:05:45
you into this world yeah what was that like it was was great it was great yeah
1:05:51
it was great I it was I lied to them and told them I know knew how to use computers okay I think I think that's
1:05:58
how I got the job um my brothers are all just fantastic
1:06:03
and they they are computer guys so um my one brother just I would go to
1:06:10
work and I'd go home at night and whatever the project was he would help me and teach me how to use Photoshop and
1:06:16
illustrator and I got a crash course for my brother at night and just built up my
1:06:22
skill and then slowly other artists started coming on board and then they would teach me things but pretty quickly
1:06:28
I I picked it up um and no I I I loved it I used it to gain knowledge and skill
1:06:36
on the computer and build up my just creative skills you know you've got a
1:06:42
problem solving that in that case and stuff but then I started painting on the side then my dad opened a little Gallery
1:06:50
in Milwaukee and he said Beth I want some of your work on the wall and so I painted I
1:06:58
think I did 10 paintings with you know I started with the oil paints I liked it I did some work for
1:07:05
him put it on the wall they all sold and I went okay let's do some more put them
1:07:11
on the wall they sold um and again really rough really just
1:07:17
very blotchy Blobby character things um but but it got me painting it it
1:07:24
started I started painting I was working crazy hours at work and then I'd go home
1:07:30
and I'd worked and I'd do my own paintings and then there was just a point
1:07:36
where and then I started doing art shows um on the weekend I maybe three in the
1:07:41
summer local I would do the Madison fair in the Square um I'd go to Minnesota do Uptown do
1:07:50
Stone Art and then we'd drive home so I could work on Monday but it just was a
1:07:56
Tipping Point where I knew people wanted to see more you know yeah
1:08:01
they were selling and I thought okay this job that I'm doing is still will
1:08:09
still be out there if I leave if I fail they would have hired me I mean I left I
1:08:16
didn't burn a single Bridge you know I I I made sure all there that all the work
1:08:21
was done I gave them I stayed a little extra I did some commission work just to
1:08:26
get them past some humps so you know they said if it doesn't work you can come back well that's good because then
1:08:33
you felt like if this new life that you were stepping into
1:08:38
wasn't going to work out you knew you had stability you you had a backup plan
1:08:43
I had that back yep I had that backup plan and you never needed to right you
1:08:48
never needed to go back to it or did you for no expect some starts or whatever the outfits and starts yep I did a
1:08:56
couple just commission things just to help them out but um never never went back and never even
1:09:03
went back into the building kind of once it was done it was done I still see the artist and it was it's a great crew but
1:09:11
yeah I I kind of thought I would have to go back right well I remember when I was
1:09:17
um working in fine dining and I was like a waiter and then I moved up to leadweighter and then I moved up to the
1:09:22
manager and the whole time we I was working that job the idea was that we
1:09:29
were learning glassblowing and how we could become we wanted to be our show artists and we were going to step into
1:09:35
that world and so when I was at that point when we were ready to start doing shows I'm talking to my general manager about
1:09:42
needing you know I'm going to take this weekend off I'm going to go to Madison and do this show and then I'll come back
1:09:47
on Monday and work my manager shift and he said well you know what that's that's like a lot of work have you ever gone on
1:09:53
a on a vacation and you drive home and you go back to work just exhausted and you were supposed to like recharge your
1:09:59
batteries he goes but you're gonna actually be working so the whole time he's thinking of talking me out of going
1:10:05
to do this art show but what he really did was he talked me into putting in my two weeks notice and so the next day I
1:10:12
come back and I submit my resignation and you his his face
1:10:18
dropped he was like I thought you I talked you out of this thing
1:10:23
what he didn't know was that you just were working on something so much bigger and you just thought right that easily
1:10:30
he'll drop that and do this right and that was the thing you were saying you were working your way up the ladder at
1:10:38
Kohl's where the money was becoming like a security and you didn't want it to get
1:10:44
so entrenched that now you're like budgeting to have that you need more
1:10:50
money every month right you didn't want to get too attached you don't want to rely on that because yep you're spending
1:10:56
that money and you're becoming becoming just dependent on it and uh I knew I
1:11:02
knew that I just couldn't let that happen was your entry into the art fairs
1:11:07
Mark did Mark lead you that down that path Mark's mom did okay Mark's mom led
1:11:14
us both yes um Mark wasn't he was doing Auto Body
1:11:20
as I think he talked about in his episode uh he was doing auto body and then had started to create
1:11:27
some pieces he made a birthday gift for me and then his mom went you should do
1:11:32
you should always what was the gift what did he well to do you weld some together for
1:11:37
you candle holder it's a uh it's probably a four foot tall candle holder
1:11:44
that has multi places to put candles and it has kind of a a flower shape on the top of it and I still have it wow so
1:11:52
romantic I know he he every time we pull it out it's what are you doing with that
1:11:57
and I'll be like I'm taking it out it's time to pull out the candle holder you're not taking it anywhere are you
1:12:04
come back to the trash are you sometimes they get nervous that he'll spy it and
1:12:10
take it from me but I don't think he will well how did you guys meet I mean I loved hearing the Whipples story about
1:12:17
how they met you guys have a story oh we have a story all right we met over a
1:12:23
13-foot fiberglass shoe really yes the there is a company called Ellen Edmond
1:12:30
shoes they do high-end dress shoes for men they are located here in Wisconsin
1:12:36
they were a client of my dads he would photograph shoes for their ads and one
1:12:43
day they they had somebody build a fiberglass shaped shoe to sit over a golf cart
1:12:50
for parades so that you know what I mean so so the owner of the company could go
1:12:57
into the parade and wave at people and to promote their company and uh so the
1:13:03
shoe was built by a student in Milwaukee and uh MSC student WR MSE yeah the owner
1:13:11
of the company was working with my dad and said well we need somebody to paint the shoe like a car
1:13:18
and Mark's sister was my dad's assistant and so Michelle said my brother has an
1:13:26
auto body shop he could paint it like he would paint a car and then but they needed someone to detail it to look like
1:13:31
a wingtip shoe and my dad said well my daughter just moved home from art school
1:13:37
she can detail it and so my dad took me to the winter farm
1:13:43
and I met Mark and I went ah when I saw him and
1:13:50
um and that really that was it we we instantly it was that right
1:13:57
fell in love with her 13 foot fiberglass shoe so that they we finished it they took the
1:14:03
shoe away uh-huh I had never seen it after that it people would tell me I was
1:14:10
at you know a parade in Cedar and Cedarburg I saw the shoe goodbye I was
1:14:15
at a parade here you know and I just Infamous shoe right exactly and I had never seen it but then uh so then 22
1:14:24
years later we got married and we got this 22 yes that's the
1:14:31
longest yes longest engagement ever right exactly
1:14:37
um I called them to see shoe was still available if it was still our paint job and it was oh my God and
1:14:45
so we without telling anybody we got married on the on the The Hilltop at his
1:14:51
parents house where we did the shoe so they have the shoe it comes in a semi
1:14:58
truck that is labeled the shoebox and it it has the car in it and so we
1:15:05
had the neighbors who has a they have a huge Barn to hide it in so they knew
1:15:10
that the truck was coming they hid it for us until the next day until the day of the wedding
1:15:16
and everybody was on the hilltop and me and my dad and sister scurried across
1:15:22
the street and uh Mark's friend drove it and we got into the car and I'm sure as
1:15:27
we're coming around the bend where the the chapel was I'm sure people
1:15:33
are like wait what are they in what is happening here there's a shoe coming this way we were in the shoe car wow as
1:15:41
you were like that was your entry into your wedding that was the entrance into the wedding where's the shoe car did the
1:15:47
did your guests know the history of this I would I would say the majority of
1:15:52
people who were there knew that I think probably a hundred people there and a lot of family so the
1:15:59
majority knew and when you realize it was really quiet and then all of a sudden just everyone got to their feet
1:16:06
and just applauded and you know whooped it and that is amazing yeah yeah what a
1:16:13
great celebration a way to to be a tribute to your special day and your relationship and art and full circle
1:16:21
moments and all that good stuff right full circle indeed it was yeah it was
1:16:27
something it was fun well speaking of Full Circle I think we've come full
1:16:33
circle and we've had a full wonderful talk Beth this was like so easy I mean
1:16:39
this talk just flowed and I really enjoyed it so I'm really glad you were
1:16:44
able to take some time away from your 12 hour days in the studio and tell us about yourself and your process it's
1:16:50
really cool I really appreciate what you and will are doing and thank you so much for asking me to to be part of it and on
1:16:58
a little funny kind of lighter note every time I see Kina it shows she says
1:17:04
you're like the male version of Barbara Walters and you always make your guests
1:17:09
cry and uh and you did I did I'm sorry
1:17:15
what kind of tree would you like to be oh Barbara don't ask that question well
1:17:21
thank you for that you know very cathartic right it doesn't feels good oh
1:17:28
thank you so much and I look forward to seeing seeing you in St Louis we'll be there together so we will see you there
1:17:33
all right bye great talk with Beth Douglas uh once
1:17:38
again another one that we have been kind of chasing for a while so thank you for your time Beth it can't be easy to give
1:17:44
that up and and uh really appreciate your insight into how you create and and
1:17:49
all of that good stuff so thank you so much really great time with her and
1:17:55
um I just wanted to also we've talked about this earlier I'm heading back to the mountains for a show that has you
1:18:02
know the Mantle's been picked up by our good friend David beerstrom and a whole team of other greats
1:18:08
um the team is right I mean David and uh working closely with um the previous directors and Carla Fox
1:18:15
and on their their board who's also all working together we've got uh Lisa
1:18:21
cutenbrecker and Daryl Cox and Chris dahlquist I mean So Heavy Hitters Heavy
1:18:27
Hitters so yeah I I really am rooting for this show I wish I could have made it work out with uh with our year and
1:18:34
our travel schedule but we all are rooting for this show to have a triumphant return and really believe in
1:18:40
those folks so the show that we're talking about is Art in the high desert and it is in Redmond Oregon and I'm
1:18:47
wishing everybody there good luck myself included I hope it's a good show yeah
1:18:53
it's uh there that's one of those shows where some some big fish are swimming around and and they can make your show
1:18:59
with with one giant sale so really uh rooting for everybody there can't wait to hear how that one goes and
1:19:05
congratulations for all of the hard work that that uh David and the rest of his his team have have put in the board of
1:19:13
directors as Top Notch like we said so um we'll keep you know just you know
1:19:20
come on just spit it out spit it out stop kissing their asses get to work
1:19:25
everybody have a good week folks we'll see you next time all right take care we'll see you in a couple weeks bro
1:19:31
perfect this podcast is brought to you by the National Association of Independent Artists the website is
1:19:39
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1:19:45
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1:20:09
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