Today we’d like to introduce you to Bethany Simpson.
Bethany, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My family is full of artists on both sides. My paternal grandfather passed down the artistic gene to most of his seven children, and my maternal grandmother was an excellent artist as well. It was only natural that I was born an artist too. I have been making art ever since I can remember, and over the years, I started to take after my father, as he spent a lot of his time painting. I can confidently say the reason I make art is because of him. Most of the time, my father painted pictures that came out of books on Impressionism. He painted crowded French markets and soft meadows on big canvases and then hung the finished result over the family fireplace, switching out the painting upon each completion. One of the very first times I tried Acrylic paint was when I saw my father finishing a replica painting of “The Hermitage at Pontoise” by Camille Pissarro. I enjoyed this so much that I, too, wanted to paint it. I was ten years old.
The art I made in my childhood, if not influenced by Impressionism, included a lot of cats and story-telling. I often wrote narratives next to pictures I drew. Some of the pictures I drew attempted to look at things from different perspectives, such as portraits of people who were not facing the front, but were walking towards something that was positioned at the viewer. I had quite a bit of self-awareness in my art and understood at these early ages what it was I was accomplishing with my pictures. I submitted my artwork to all kinds of contests and always ended up bringing home fancy certificates.
When I was around 11 years old (and living in North Texas), I started making my characters, which was heavily influenced by Anime styles; Sailor Moon in particular. These characters were all superheroes with powers and detailed costumes. I mostly drew female characters, because even as a young girl, I knew that women could be the hero too. Since these characters I created were so important and nostalgic to me, I re-drew them every few years as I got older so that I could see my progress as an artist. The Anime-character-making phase only lasted through middle school, but I believe I am still influenced by some of the delicate line and mark-making found in those stories.
Fast forward through high school, I am now developing my style and identity. By the time I was a senior, two things had occurred to me: I had loved art more than anything, and I loved helping others. I decided that I wanted to become one of those hybrid art-teacher-and-fine artist duos. Years later, I graduated from UNT with my BFA in Visual Art Studies, and now I am doing what I love!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I had some struggles getting to where I am today. Growing up in a small town meant small Fine Arts programs and not a whole lot of access to things. For example, my high school art room was small and lacking. We didn’t even have a kiln or much of a budget. Many of the things that my current students have at the middle school level I hadn’t even heard of until college. Like a linocut print or certain watercolor techniques, for example. So there was a bit of a learning curve to some of the materials that I use today. I felt like I was playing a lot of catch-up throughout my college career. What kept me going and inspired, though, was my high school Art teacher. His encouragement made up for the fact that we didn’t have all the fancy things other schools had. It just made me want not only to try harder but also led me to the idea of becoming an Art Teacher in addition to pursuing Fine Art in general.
One of my other main struggles came from home, which leads to what much of my work explores. My parents divorced when I was 14, which is already a tough year for a kid. That same year I experienced an abusive relationship and then the death of my grandmother. A lot of what I went through during that time shaped how I viewed relationships, loss, and ultimately how they impact a person. I use a lot of symbolism to represent these different themes in my work. I’d say my few struggles have played a part in the concepts I portray in my art.
Please tell us about your work.
As an artist and art teacher, my main goal is to expose people to new ideas and ways to accomplish things through art-making. I hope to help people draw connections between imagery and meaning and how self-expression can be more than just a self-portrait or basic art style. My work is created as mostly soft watercolors and drawings that contain a mix of portraits, symbolism, and surrealism, and focus on identity and relationships with my family members. The stories that I craft through what I create go beyond the visually pleasing aspect and reach down to reveal that identity in an underlying way.
Rather than painting self-portraits, I paint the icons that make me who I am. If I am creating art around a specific issue or family story, I choose to paint the signifier instead of the situation itself. An example would be in my work Chairished Recollections: The Hand-Me-Down, in which I painted a chair that has been in my family for generations. The chair acted as a signified of those it has belonged to as well as the significance it has had in my life. Although personal, the art I create is depicted in such a way that it is intended to connect the viewer through similar personal circumstances. Almost everyone can think of at least one chair that holds some sort of significance in their memory. My paintings are a signifier of the relationships I have with my family, but I also paint events or places that have a certain meaning to me. In any case, the audience can enjoy the final work once the meaning is revealed. I believe everyone has these particular stories, and for me, my art is a glimpse into mine. My mission as an artist and teacher is to share that experience of art-making and help others find similar paths in their work.
As far as my style: I primarily use pastels and lighter tones because aesthetically, I believe that this art reflects who I am the most. I am a fragile person who creates soft art to deal with personal issues, such as loss, delicate relationships, and even my health and disabilities. I like to create art that depicts the difference between being strong and being physically strong and being weak and physically weak. I enjoy working both with watercolor and graphite for different reasons. Graphite gives me the ability to be precise with portraits while watercolor enables me to be more loose-handed and free, a balance that helps and inspires me as an artist. The ideal audience for my work is not the mass of the public, but rather a group as individuals. My vision is this way because each story that a person can tell is unique. Some of us share the same issues. Some of us have a similar family memory, and some of us remember that one chair or car or place. Maybe we don’t pay enough attention, but these things, places, and memories help make us who we are.
I believe my art is unique because of the way I focus on all of these ideas and issues in a different way than most. My artwork can be aesthetically pleasing but can connect to a person in a way they would not have expected. Recently, I have been combing themes of sadness, loss, or even horror (some fan art, honestly) with floral imagery. I enjoy the contrasting ideas and objects juxtaposed together in an attempt at some ironic unity.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Art and teaching will always be a part of my future, whether I am teaching middle school, a college course, or even just working in my studio. I can’t see myself doing anything else. I don’t have any specific goal in mind, other than to keep working hard at what I do and understand where it takes me!
Pricing:
- I do commissions! Price depends on medium and size, not an hourly rate. Expect to pay anywhere between $50-$200 for anything 8×10″ to 16″x20″
- Pieces requested bigger than 16×20″ start at $200.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bethanysimpsonart.com/
- Email: Bethanynoelsimpson@gmail.com
- Instagram: @bethanysimpsonart
Image Credit:
Bethany Simpson
Suggest a story: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
