Bethany Mabee is an abstract painter and textile designer who has spent over 20 years immersed in the interior design industry while simultaneously cultivating her painting and studio practice. Her experiences in interior design serve as pivotal stepping stones in her development of a textile line and remain a constant source of inspiration in her studio work. Each step in Bethany’s process refuels a future process, becoming a symbol of continuous and cyclical expansion. Her work serves as a moving meditation that explores improvisation through interactions with color and material. Completed paintings take on new life through the methodical process of pattern creation for fabric and wallpaper. This pattern creation becomes an extended exploration of contrast by transforming painting improvisation into intentional digital design. 

Read on to learn more about one of our September featured artists!

Q: Your color pairings are so interesting. Can you tell us where you find color inspiration and how you determine the palette you work with in a painting?

A: I’m really inspired by nature’s ability to provide dimension through various shades of a single color.  The same tone on tone use of color in interior design typically grabs my attention for palette inspiration.   But it’s the unexpected pops of color within the tonal variations that I love.   It provides an element of contrast that I’m drawn to.  Like seeing a tree appear black against the horizon line at sunset.  

There is so much palette inspiration everywhere!  But once I’m actually in the studio, my color choices are more instinctive. I love mixing colors based on what I have on-hand and what speaks to me in the moment.  There’s an exciting element of surprise and experimentation that comes from just mixing without any pre-made plans.

Q: You create paintings on paper, paper collage, and large scale paintings on canvas. Can you tell us more about why working on different scales and on different surfaces is an important part of your practice? 

A: Working in various surfaces has allowed me to form a cyclical blueprint for my studio process.  I love observing the cyclical patterns all around us.  It gives me permission to express the various modes of myself that could otherwise fight against each other.  Instead, each expression has its place and time and they all feed and inform one another.  So the different scales and surfaces came about by honoring the natural rhythms within myself.   

• Works on paper warm me up with improvisation before tackling a large blank canvas.  
• Works on canvas allow me to exercise my systematic brain with planning and color-blocking precision.  I like to play pin-the-tail on the canvas with painted canvas strips to finalize color placement and composition. 
• The painted canvas strips are later used for collage work.  I love rearranging - any form of tangibly moving things around! Collages provide the arranging that I crave as a reset before painting again. 

Q: Do you have a favorite designer?

A: So many…I could look at interior design feeds or magazines all day…I see design as another art form that offers constant inspiration in the freedom of expression!   If I had to narrow down my favorite designers (because I can’t pick one) - I’d say Summer Thornton,  Pierce + Ward and Studio Ashby. 

Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world to find artistic inspiration, where would you go?

A: I would most definitely go back to Italy.  I was lucky enough to go there a couple years ago and I was mesmerized by the trees and the countless eye candies that were all around.  My new textile collection that’s releasing in September is actually inspired by that trip. I think that travel of any kind is inspiring.  Taking in new sites always brings new perspectives and ideas! 

Q: What direction do you see for your work in the future?

A: My paintings in particular have changed so much over the last year.  They used to have a more ethereal nature to them.  But there was a shift that seemed to occur almost overnight, and I was ready to move on.  I’ve been having so much fun with the more hard-edged process in my recent paintings .  They really allow the color to be the star…and for my analytical mind to have a puzzle to solve as I plan their compositions.  So I’m excited to explore these more and to see how they naturally evolve.