Posts in "pop culture"
Artwork Inspired by Good Design
Spray paint on bedspread in window sash 30 x 27.75"
My work is finally completely hung at The Tomato Head on Market Square in Knoxville. Please plan to eat there this month so you will see it. It will also be at the Bearden location in January.

fabric on window sash 30.25 x 27.75"

I really enjoyed making the work for this show. You will get more of a grasp on why I made it if you read my artist statement below, but I wanted to mention that this work is very new and different for me. I had painted the pool paintings a while ago, but the most recent work in the show is drawings on window sashes and fabric collages.

I'm moving away from the narrative paintings I've been making for so long. I started some this year, but they have became difficult to finish. I'd like to work on them over time, adding to them every week or so, but now, I'm focusing in on using other materials (fabric, etc.) and drawing on glass.

Drawing is so much more immediate for me. A pen feels closer to my hand than a paintbrush does. I've loved painting, but there has always been an element of difficulty with it for me, an unease. Drawing is more like breathing.

fabric and flagging tape 38 x 30"

Below is my artist statement for the show. I typically labor over writing these things, but I wrote this one quickly because that is how I've been making my work lately- avoiding lulls, trusting instinct. It's a little cheesy, which is good because it means I'm writing about something I love.

A couple of summers ago, my sister bought me a subscription to Vogue. On most days, my mailbox is typically pretty boring, so when I open it up once a month to find that magazine in its plastic packaging, it’s like a mini Christmas.

My first run through the pages is quick, as I ooo and ahh over what I love and furrow my brow at what I don’t. The second time through, I dog ear pages- things I wish I owned, images that are alluring, figures I want to draw, color schemes I want to use. The third time through, if there is a third time, I read articles.

These pieces are influenced by what I am looking at in this and other magazines- gold and black combinations, envy-inducing models in perfectly tailored garments, fluorescent colors, patterns. They are also inspired by my growing network on Etsy, the online marketplace I sell my artwork. Etsy is a place where one can not only see trends in the creative, fashion, and design world but also learn what people are actually liking and buying.

I am intrigued by why people like what they do, why certain things become trendy, and what makes something classic. I’m in awe of impeccable and good design and what people are willing to pay for it. As I observe these things, I want to participate as well. Right now, I am making these pieces to be a tiny part of this large creative industry, to filter all that I am seeing through my brain and hands to make something new and inspired.
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


Lady Mary, Matthew Crawley, and Rihanna
If I was a teenage girl today, I'd make a Youtube video montage of Matthew Crawley and Lady Mary photos set to Rihanna's We All Want Love. I'd work on it in the wee hours of the morning, in between witty banter and repressed flirtation with my crush via instant messenger* in a dark room filled with the soft glow of my computer screen.




















* IM doesn't exist anymore, does it?
but here's my number


This was always my original idea for the magazine images I've started collecting, but it's been hard to find exactly what I'm looking for. This being my first, I'm happy with the outcome- a good marriage between image and lyric. It's kind of like those e-cards you see with old-timey people saying slang or subversive things, but also different. You'll see! More to come...

Also, to spice things up a bit, if you like any of these pieces I post with the label artistic calisthenics, be the first to let me know via the comment box with an overly enthusiastic and highly encouraging comment*, and I just might send it to you**!

*or send $$
** some terms and conditions may apply, which I'll make up as I go along.