Check Out Beth Barger’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Beth Barger.

Hi Beth, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
One of my earliest art memories is making 3-D paper flowers. I was 4, my brother 3. It was late winter in Great Lakes, IL, with blustery wind and snow outside. My Mom was determined to keep us constructively occupied while we were cooped up in the house. My brother and I made our construction paper tulips and daffodils, which were then “planted” along the hall baseboard in a valiant effort to usher in spring. Thus, my artistic genes were awakened and my lifelong love of art and creating with my hands was born.

From that day on, working with my hands and heart was a part of my life whether designing the yearbook cover for my high school or teaching arts and crafts at summer camp. When it was time to declare a college major, I couldn’t fathom studying anything but art. After obtaining my BFA in Graphic Design from ECU, I spent 15 years in the profession. With the advent of desktop publishing and less opportunity to get my hands messy with design, the profession lost its luster. As a result, my career took me further away from what I was meant to do.

Enter my Mom. She’s always known me best, and she’s always had my back. She knew that if not addressed, that lack of creating would ultimately create a void in my life. It was her idea that we attend a Plein air workshop together in Brittany, France. My work today is the culmination of the life adventure Mom and I share.

As a Navy “brat” my family transferred to Camp Lejeune when I was 15. Having lived my teen and adult years in North Carolina, I have been privileged to experience our State’s incredible beauty. Major storms over the past 30 years combined with the significant growth in the Triangle and Triad regions serve as constant reminders of how fleeting that rural beauty is. My paintings document a variety of North Carolina scenes in an effort to evoke sentimentality for what we have and risk losing.

Although my paintings are based on specific places, my contemporary impressionistic style allows room for the viewers’ imagination to place that beach in New England or that old country store in any small town in the USA.

I am a third-generation artist and am so thankful for the artistic genes I inherited from my Mother and my Grandmother, for they set the stage for my current life as a full-time artist. Although I have always been an artist, it is only recently that I’ve come to realize that I create as a way to heal life’s wounds by painting and sharing the beauty and joy that surrounds us every day. And the deeper I get into my painting practice, the more apparent it becomes that there’s more.

The “more” is how my paintings speak to others. How a painting of an old building evokes memories of a grandfather’s country store. How pet portraits give people a place to heal their broken hearts from the loss of a beloved pet. Or how paintings of sand dunes surface memories of joyful family vacations at the beach. Its reactions like these complete my paintings. My painting journey is incomplete if not shared with others.

So yes, I paint for myself. But, more importantly, my paintings are for you. Sharing them with you completes them.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As with any worthwhile endeavor, there are always challenges to overcome. None of my challenges have been tragic, but they have required hard work and dedication.

With the intent to get a BFA in graphic design, my first hurdle was to submit a portfolio of work that would get me accepted into ECU’s competitive program. Of my sophomore class, fewer than 50% were admitted. After two years of focused effort, I was among those accepted.

My next challenge coincided with the advent of desktop publishing just five years after my college graduation. Suddenly, all of the processes and tools I learned in college were outdated. Although I quickly learned how to use design software, the profession lost its luster. I missed working with all those luscious papers, Letraset type, and my x-acto knife. Using a mouse and staring at a computer screen just couldn’t fulfill that tactile need. As it is with so many professions in this rapidly changing world, one must continuously pivot and adjust. My adjustment took me away from a career in the Arts.

Returning to the arts 25 years later, my current challenge is to continuously grow as an artist. Painting is a lifelong endeavor with always more to learn. To become a good painter requires so much more than talent. Just like music, painting requires hours of study and practice; practice in drawing, seeing, mixing colors, and applying paint. For me, pursuing those skills has become a delightful obsession. Definitely not relaxing as it requires just about every brain cell in my head, but I love it, especially when I get into that Zen state of “flow” where the painting just seems to slide right out of my hand.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I create as a way to heal life’s wounds by painting and sharing the beauty and joy that surrounds us every day. That beauty may be found in an old run-down building, in a sunlit still life scene, sand dunes captured during the golden hour, or in the glimmering eyes of a much-loved pet.

Large paintings, complex scenes, and pets are usually painted in my studio from my own photographs, where I have time to work through problems as they are presented by the painting. And of course, most pets are not known for holding a pose for the time I need to capture them in paint.

I also enjoy painting en Plein air, or translated, “in the open air”. Painting on location outdoors presents an entirely different set of problems, most notably the constantly moving sun which completely changes the way a scene looks in about two hours. It forces me to work fast!

While I’ll tackle a variety of subjects, because, well, all subjects are just a collection of shapes, my focus is on painting light and shadow. It’s the color of light and shadow that makes the form so interesting. The way highlights make black fur look blue. The way shadow colors range from blues to purples depending on the color of the sunlight. And the way shadows crawling across the land reveal the topography. This focus on the light is a consistent trademark throughout my body of work.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I’m very blessed that most of my luck has been good. My childhood was filled with love, discipline, and adventure. My parents were very supportive of my desire to pursue art in college. And my career, although it was outside of the arts for a while, ultimately provided me with the opportunity to become a full-time fine artist. I’m blessed with the good luck of a supportive husband who understands I need to create in order to be happy, and who encourages me in all of my artistic goals. If I had a bout of bad luck, it was when I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the age of 26. But even that was good luck because it was caught very early and I’m still around. That diagnosis taught me to make the most of every day which gets me right back to making art.

Contact Info:

• Email: bbargerart@gmail.com
• Website: https://www.bbargerart.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bbargerart/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bbargerart

Image Credits
Kelly Blades.