Page 3 - Savoring

The swift currents of our busy modern lives often keep us on the surface of the water. One of the greatest joys and privileges of an artful existence is the kind of immersion into our experiences that results in the resonant beauty of art. One of the greatest challenges of an artful existence is finding the time and energy to swim to that depth to begin with and stay there long enough to come up with anything.
Betty L. Beer considers being an artist her second career. Therefore, it is particularly apt that she appreciates the importance of the role of savoring within the work of being an artist—that she understands that creating good art demands living in the fullness of experience. A depth of sensation is necessary in unearthing the essence, nuances and richness of both the seen and unseen fields that lay before the artist’s eye. Skill in execution is in fact secondary to the artist’s vision when it comes to creating good and truthful work from the sources of these sensations. We must spend time with a thing to really know it, and we must know it in order to share anything important about it.
Beer‘s responsive consideration of her subjects is evident in her paintings and drawings, whether landscapes or detailed and realist renderings of portraits. Abstracted landscapes that verge on the non-objective in their concern for formal beauty are as true to their subjects as figure studies that bring to light the inner life of the sitter. Within them we see what is real and meaningful, what is truly resonant and beautiful about their existence. It is a noble endeavor that Betty’s pursuit of her subjects is the pursuit of truth; we are fortunate—as her audience— that she has chosen to share these truths with us in such a skillful manner.
Jodi Lundgren, Curator
Washington Pavilion Visual Arts Center
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