Painting daily - journals at the source

Blue Hydrangeas #726 down the garden path #728 through morning light #723

by beth vendryes williams

Opening my new exhibit, Painting daily; journals at the source,  

was delicious, beautiful and well attended! Delicious, has to do with homemade apple cider donuts, as well! The paintings continue to hang beautifully on the walls through January.  So if you missed it I invite to go right over to the Oyster Bay Historical Society!

It was very exciting for me to see many curious, enthusiastic  art explorers as they investigated my journals, finding much they could relate to in my imagery and words. 

I have been searching for ways to record my marks in journals, since the 1970’s. You can read more about that here.

This show was inspired by  

my casual estimate of a 30 journal cache on the top shelves of a bookcase. The number turned out to be 130 journals! The Oyster Bay Historical Society Historical Society director, Phillip Blocklyn, stopped by to see work at my studio as I was trying to figure out what I was going to do now that they sat on my work table. He pointedly made a connection with Mary Cooper, living in Oyster Bay in 1768, She is thought to be the oldest known woman diarist in New York State!

When I explored the continuity of themes,

lines, colors, and shapes that have continued to influence my work, I decided to catalogue the images and words. This way I could tag them, and within this confluence of events, the idea for this show was born.

In the Earle-Wightman House, where the exhibit is installed, I have placed excerpts on the wall about why I made each painting. A sketch from my journal, mirroring a line, color, shape or subject matter of the painting is also under the painting.  Finally, many of the paintings are accompanied by comparable quotes from Mary Cooper’s  Oyster Bay diaries, begun in 1768. A mural painted on canvas recently for a photo shoot creates a dynamic background for half of the paintings. I had fun using it to full effect, what with crashing waves at twilight, a spooky house and lighthouse and a cliff!

Why not stop by?  

Make sure you ask to take a close look at a journal or two. And sign up there for the Journalling Workshop I will be offering On Sunday, December 4th from 1-4pm!