Beth Gumnick

Artists Statement by Beth Gumnick
About 10 years ago, after being a long time collector of outsider, folk, visionary, and southern art and developing a real love for two dimensional art, I decided I wanted to explore something new, another way to express my creativity besides on the stage (I am a drama teacher by day), so I started painting. It was something I had never really tried, a new challenge and a solitary kind of art that was different from what I did in the theater and that I found quite soothing.

Eventually I had a bunch of paintings piled up, not doing anybody any good or making anybody smile just leaned up against my wall, so I got my “start” selling my art (approximately 100 of my earliest paintings) on ebay in 1999, but soon branched out to other venues. Since that time my work has been on display in a several galleries and shops, and in many charity auctions and fundraisers for animal rescue and other non-profit organizations, and at festivals around the Southeastern United States.

I paint mostly on wood that I salvage from my school’s woodshop— the little lost pieces that get thrown away at the end of the semester or projects, and other odds and ends, whatever comes my way. I rarely paint on canvas (unless it is a “recycled” one) and I like no surface better than a nice little scrap of birch plywood.

My subject matter varies, but I tend to gravitate toward stylized images of animals, trees and words, using lots of bright colors of acrylic paint. I love to paint my favorite words or quotations, and I like the graphic shapes of letters themselves painted in intense colors. My love of animals is central to my life and almost always crops up when I feel the urge to paint.

I do A LOT of commissioned pieces, offering patrons a different kind of view of their pets, designing art for their child's room, or just giving their favorite quote vivid color and shape. (Feel free to inquire for more information and to see samples of previous commissions.)