About Beth Owen
Represented Artist
Beth Owen grew up in El Dorado, AR, where art and humanities played a central role in her upbringing. Her mother and maternal grandfather, both artists, instilled a love for the creative process in her from a young age. Beth fondly remembers spending time with her grandfather, using finger paints to create works of art. Her exposure to classical music and ballet lessons also influenced her abstract painting style.
Beth pursued her passion for art by earning a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, specializing in the art and archaeology of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. She was particularly drawn to the vibrant colors and bright pigments seen in ancient codices of the Aztec, Mixtec, and Maya cultures.
Following her mother's passing in 2019, Beth embarked on a journey of self-healing through full-time painting. As an abstract expressionist, she employs acrylic, watercolor, and oil painting techniques, with a preference for oil due to its glossy finish. Her work is characterized by its highly textured quality, achieved by applying a thick primer of heavy gesso before creating an underpainting, resulting in a 2D fresco or pilaster effect.
In 1973, a significant event happened in my life. I was working with my teacher in our private reading group when a group of older students interrupted to announce the winners of the school-wide art contest. "The winner for the 3rd-grade art contest is...Beth Young," they declared. I vividly remember the excitement that coursed through me at that moment. Winning for the entire third grade with my prized work of yellow, white, and green flowers on top of blue poster board proved to be a defining moment in my life. It meant free art lessons for the remainder of the school year at the South Arkansas Art Center.
Those art lessons were transformative for me. I learned painting techniques such as layering, which allowed me to achieve certain desired effects and opened doors to better communicate, connect, and build relationships. As the death of my beloved grandmother the summer before had left me feeling incredibly shy, anxious, and uncertain, art became a powerful tool for self-expression.
As an artist today, my work is a reflection of my past and present. It provides me with a visual voice and invites the viewer to experience courage and vulnerability as I share my perception of places, people, and the human experience. In my contemporary works, I utilize layers to explore themes such as spirituality, memory, and movement. Some pieces feature words from literature, film, dance, or other sources that are personally meaningful as its base layer. In some paintings, the printed layers are clearly visible, and in others, they are obscured. Through this, I explore the meaningful selectivity we use in deciding which layers of our personal stories we will share with others and which we will withhold.
Color is a tool, a technique, and a language that I use to emphasize the overall mood of my art. Abstracting the subject matter, manipulating shapes, and incorporating texture that evokes an emotional response unify my paintings, however diverse they may be.
About the art
Beth Owen grew up in El Dorado, AR, where art and humanities played a central role in her upbringing. Her mother and maternal grandfather, both artists, instilled a love for the creative process in her from a young age. Beth fondly remembers spending time with her grandfather, using finger paints to create works of art. Her exposure to classical music and ballet lessons also influenced her abstract painting style.
Beth pursued her passion for art by earning a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, specializing in the art and archaeology of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. She was particularly drawn to the vibrant colors and bright pigments seen in ancient codices of the Aztec, Mixtec, and Maya cultures.
Following her mother's passing in 2019, Beth embarked on a journey of self-healing through full-time painting. As an abstract expressionist, she employs acrylic, watercolor, and oil painting techniques, with a preference for oil due to its glossy finish. Her work is characterized by its highly textured quality, achieved by applying a thick primer of heavy gesso before creating an underpainting, resulting in a 2D fresco or pilaster effect.
In 1973, a significant event happened in my life. I was working with my teacher in our private reading group when a group of older students interrupted to announce the winners of the school-wide art contest. "The winner for the 3rd-grade art contest is...Beth Young," they declared. I vividly remember the excitement that coursed through me at that moment. Winning for the entire third grade with my prized work of yellow, white, and green flowers on top of blue poster board proved to be a defining moment in my life. It meant free art lessons for the remainder of the school year at the South Arkansas Art Center.
Those art lessons were transformative for me. I learned painting techniques such as layering, which allowed me to achieve certain desired effects and opened doors to better communicate, connect, and build relationships. As the death of my beloved grandmother the summer before had left me feeling incredibly shy, anxious, and uncertain, art became a powerful tool for self-expression.
As an artist today, my work is a reflection of my past and present. It provides me with a visual voice and invites the viewer to experience courage and vulnerability as I share my perception of places, people, and the human experience. In my contemporary works, I utilize layers to explore themes such as spirituality, memory, and movement. Some pieces feature words from literature, film, dance, or other sources that are personally meaningful as its base layer. In some paintings, the printed layers are clearly visible, and in others, they are obscured. Through this, I explore the meaningful selectivity we use in deciding which layers of our personal stories we will share with others and which we will withhold.
Color is a tool, a technique, and a language that I use to emphasize the overall mood of my art. Abstracting the subject matter, manipulating shapes, and incorporating texture that evokes an emotional response unify my paintings, however diverse they may be.