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French Lessons, an exhibition of oil sketches by Karen Beckwith, explores the artist's experiences of traveling in Paris and Normandy last April. The personal, small scale paintings reveal France from within and around the two homes of her hosts, as the artist was the guest of French/American friends. But the series of sketches twist our notion of a classic painter's journal of a foreign landscape by describing the artist's emotional experience as well as her visual experience.
"It's natural for a painter to be moved by the light, color, and form of an unfamiliar place." writes Beckwith. "But what really motivated me to paint these field studies of France was that I wanted to understand the emotional impact the trip had on me, which lingered for months. The act of painting has allowed me to stay connected to experiences I'd had, but didn't understand -- long enough to gain some clarity. As an artist, I'm most interested in the process of painting as a way into the self, a path that can lead me toward the truth of my feelings. That's where my edge is: seeing myself, using my creative work as the textbook, in hot pursuit of hindsight." Known locally as a creative director and designer, Karen Beckwith has enjoyed a 20 year career creating textiles, consumer (home) products, graphic identities and packaging, fixturing, and retail interiors. Painting, a lifelong love, has been her primary focus for the past five years. She has lived and worked in Garrison, NY for the last fourteen years with her husband, Scott Barrow, and two daughters, Ardis and Rebecca. |