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.