ABOUT ME, BETTY GRISHAM!
I was born and raised in Missouri. I graduated with a B.S. in Art Education from Missouri State University (formerly Southwest Missouri State College). I have lived most of my adult life in northern Virginia. I am very fortunate to have been able to work in Studio 17 at
The Torpedo Factory Art Center on the Waterfront in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, for over 30 years. I now work from my home studio in Fairfax County, still an Alexandria mailing address.
MY WORK
My work primarily consists of oil paintings on canvas but I also enjoy working with graphite and colored pencil, pastels, and gouache on paper. Although my art can best be described as contemporary realism, I also sometimes work abstractly in a mixture of media. I enjoy using intricate detail, pattern, reflection and transparencies in my representational work, often incorporating textures and contrasts of enhanced rich color against subtle use of grays, beiges, and whites. Variety is important to me, not only in my choices of media, but in my choices of subject matter. That consists of still life, landscapes, pet portraits, florals, and figures. I often work on larger canvases, using glassware and reflections as subject matter in an attempt to create a fluid, landscape-like abstraction within my realism. In some pieces my work crosses the line beyond realism into abstraction and becomes almost totally non-objective art. All of my work is rooted in the love of drawing and observing what is around me.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
“I believe that there is wonder and beauty all around us if we can just pause long enough to ‘mindfully see’ it — not just ‘look’ at it. Even when I am not actively drawing and painting, I am absorbing the visual miracles surrounding me. I love to examine what happens as light falls upon objects and atmospheres, creating shadows, bending, showing through transparent or translucent objects, revealing a variety of textures, and evoking emotional responses. First, seeing and then capturing what I have observed, perhaps exaggerating it slightly, and therefore, hopefully lifting it up for others to share, is my way of celebrating what is good about Life. It is also one of my ways of coping when Life is difficult to understand and accept. I hope that my art creates warmth and excitement for others, enriching their lives a bit. I hope it helps others also ‘see’ ordinary objects around them with new appreciation, and experience the moment a little more fully.”
