Beth Winterburn

eth graduated from the University of Tennessee with a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art in 2002. She began her collegiate career as part of the Architecture program, but quickly realized that the Fine Arts section of the building was where she belonged. The majority of her years in school were actually spent in the dark room, developing film. The hands-on tactility of processing film and the delay of the work coming to life really "fit" - numbers, cause and effect, creativity. After graduating, she worked alongside a photojournalistic photographer for a couple of years until another job forced a move. After setting all creative endeavors aside for quite awhile, she began to feel the itch again.

During her time away, digital photography had swept the photography industry, forcing her to reevaluate her direction. As a fine arts major, she had a fairly full resume of work - throwing and hand building with clay, watercolor, design, sculpture, photography and printmaking. Through the years, she'd painted on the side - nothing major, only small projects - until one fortuitous request changed it all - a request for a large abstract piece. From that, a real passion was awakened.

Beth's work is characterized by bold, gestural brush strokes and minimalist detail. As a nod to her analytical roots in photography and architecture, she approaches each piece with a mathematical mindset - counting evens and odds, balancing lights and darks, visually "slicing" the composition into thirds and fifths. Every attempt is made to respect the materials, allowing each to behave accordingly, with subtle direction. She approaches her work as if it's a problem to solve: combining and contrasting elements with and against one another to create a cohesive yet dynamic piece. Beth's work is an exploration of control (or the lack thereof). Each canvas, piece of paper or panel is an invitation to engage - to feel, to react, to explore the tension and resolve of each and every element and property used to build it.