Posts in "swimming"
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Paintings by Beth Meadows
at Fido
1812 21st Ave S
Nashville, Tennessee 37212 
 
Oct 3- Nov 20, 2012
 
 Below are the last two of the six new pool paintings.
 
Pool V by Beth Meadows acrylic on canvas 2012 16 x 20"
Purchase here
Pool VI by Beth Meadows acrylic on canvas 2012 16 x 20"
Purchase here
 
And here are photos of the show. If you're in Nashville over the next few weeks, please stop by.
 








Swimming Pool Series: Pool IV
Beth Meadows Pool IV acrylic on canvas 16x20" 2012
I feel like this painting was an accident, but that may not be accurate. 

I guess what I mean is that I didn't have a vision of this at all when I began painting it. I'm happy with the outcome because it's rare that I wander far from representational work. This painting goes in a direction I've been fantasizing about going in (toward abstraction), but it's going to have to be an accident if it's going to happen at all. I don't think I could do this on purpose and it be successful, at least right now. 


Swimming Pool Series: Pool III
Beth Meadows Pool III acrylic and varnish on canvas 18x24" 2012
I've written before about my love of swimming. Almost a year ago now, I was reunited with swimming consistently in a pool when I joined the YWCA in downtown Knoxville.

Something I haven't mentioned about these paintings is that I'm not looking at anything when I'm making them, which is not typical of most of my paintings. I usually look at photos, but these are based on memory. As I made Pool III, I thought about the pool I know best right now- the one at the YWCA.

At first, the canvas was mostly gold. When I added black on the left side, I really liked it, so after a week or so, I added more all over and scratched into it under the lights, letting the gold come back through.

My painting professor in art school, Michael Brakke, always said that the removal of paint from a canvas is just as important as the addition of it. Everytime I scrape, scratch, or wipe away paint from a canvas, I think of him.

Painting a series gives you boundaries in the art-making process, a thing I'm not used. I typically paint on all types of materials and everything's a different size. While it's been nice to be confined to certain rules I've set up for these paintings, those boundaries also became somewhat irritating. Sticking with it, however, pushed me in certain directions I may not have gone in and it became a challenge I appreciated.

Looking at this series as a whole, I'm happy with the outcome of this painting.

Sidenote: Do you recognize the light fixtures? Here's a hint.


Swimming Pool Series: Pool I

This is the first painting I made for this series of black and gold paintings of pools.

Beth Meadows Pool I acrylic and varnish on canvas 18x24" 2012

I have this memory from childhood of walking out to a parking lot with my family and family friends at night after swimming at a public pool. My hair is wet, I have a towel wrapped around me, and my chlorine infused eyes blur the parking lot lights. 

The memory itself doesn't seem significant. There's also a chance it never even happened. I could have dreamed it or concocted it from reading books or watching TV.

Either way, it is now a painting.

Swimming Pool Series: Pool II

I've painted and drawn swimming pools for a few years now but have recently started a new series mixing this subject matter with a gold and black color palette.

Gold and black is one of my favorite color schemes currently, conjuring up thoughts of high end fashion and design, fame and fortune. There is an inherent glamor when the two pair up, a feeling of luxurious living that swimming in a crisp clean pool makes me feel (no matter how much money I might currently have).

Below is one of about six or seven that I'm in the process of making for an upcoming show I have in Nashville. More to come...

Beth Meadows Pool II acrylic and varnish on canvas 16x20" 2012


Make me wanna rhyme
photo from YWCA website

If I could write poetry, I'd write a poem about my love affair with swimming.

Fleshy figure exposé

I go to the downtown YWCA, a beautiful old building.

The perfect ending to any day

The pool is in the basement.

White tiled pool, ceiling, and walls

It's beautiful.

The crystal clear aqua beckons. It calls.

I'm usually the only one there, except for the lifeguard. It used to be a little awkward.

Easing in, warmth outside and out.

I'm not great, but I'm getting better.

Makes me want to cheer, makes me want to shout.

I awkwardly try to sync my body movements and breathing.

The closest I'll ever feel to flying.

My thoughts are healthy.

And the furthest I'll feel from dying.

My heart at rest.

That's kind of extreme

but you know what I mean.