Winter 2020 News from the Studio Newsletter

Dear Friends and Patrons,
In my last newsletter, I mentioned that the stone carving studio was open again, and I was working on a little carving of a gecko. Well, the sad ending to that story is that the gecko had an accident, and his head fell off. So, now he is my studio mascot. He sits on the shelf and reminds me of two important truths. #1 Rocks that come from quarries that use dynamite have lots of cracks in them.#2  Great endeavors often begin with dramatic failure. 

So, on to more adventures and mishaps! There have been many successes, and many failures. Here are some pictures of what I have to show from it:
Plein air painting all over Mount Pleasant (my neighborhood in Washington, DC)

A few field trips – pictured below, painting the salt marshes at Assateague

House portraits and other commissions

A coffee shop show at Dos Gringos (A big thank you to Dos Gringos Cafe for hosting, to John Stewart for the idea, to fellow Mount Pleasant Artist Steve Mabley for collaborating on the show with me, and to the patrons who purchased paintings!)

One of the silver linings of the quarantine has been some community building among other Mount Pleasant artists. On Saturdays over the summer and into fall, we’ve been putting up the Socially Distant Gallery on my front porch, in collaboration with a neighbor who hosts front porch concerts (https://www.instagram.com/frankojazz/) Pictured below is my niece Alice with the art. 

Want to see more recent work? Check out currently available paintings on my website at www.belfineart.com or follow me on Instagram @belfineart.
And, although painting is currently my focus, in future newsletters, I hope to be able to report that the sculpture studio is ready to take commissions. For now, I’m focusing on professional development so that I can make some *really cool stuff.* Master stone carver Dario Tazzioli (www.dariotazzioli.com) has been teaching me stone carving over Zoom meetings from Italy. So far, I can make lines in things and make things flat. It’s actually harder than it looks. 

And, I’m using a pro bono sculptural commission to work on human figure clay modeling skills.

So, save those commissions for now, and in five years, you can all have a fabulous copy of the Pieta. 
Maybe Maestro Tazzioli will also teach me how to find rocks without cracks in them so that the heads don’t fall off.
All the best,
Bethany

Bethany Leewww.belfineart.com
@belfineart
651-747-6623