PASTEL SOCIETY OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS
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BETHANY FIELDS
​INTERVIEW AUGUST 2020 


PSST online demo artist September 12, 2020
Bethany Fields is an American contemporary artist working in pastel. She has gained recent national recognition with exhibits at the Salmagundi Club, The National Arts Club, both in NYC, and the Butler Institute of American Art in Ohio. She regularly hosts and teaches workshops around the country and is a signature member of the Pastel Society of America and the Degas Pastel Society and is a Master Circle member of IAPS (International Association of Pastel Societies). She is a member of American Impressionists Society and American Women Artists.  

Bethany's primary focus is the American West landscape of the Llano Estacado and surrounding areas. A favorite location for inspiration is beautiful Palo Duro Canyon near Canyon, Texas as well as the high plains of the Texas Panhandle.  In her travels across the country, she has gathered a plethora of inspiration and her love of the outdoors shows in her emotional and personal work. View Bethany's website.


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PSST:  What is your art background? Academic, self-taught, workshops?

BCF:  My background is in theatre arts! I studied for the stage at my University and have a BFA in Acting/Directing. I always considered myself “crafty” and even though I didn’t pick up pastels for many years, learned much about color theory, composition, and lighting design in my theatre training. I performed professionally for years, singing and dancing in lots of musicals and am still very active in the theatre scene. I first picked up pastels as a young mother of three after buying a small pastel on etsy.com - the texture appealed to me so I bought a set (I think Nupastels?) and practiced on grocery sack paper. This led me to searching out pastel artists I could study online… mostly through still images and books. I didn’t have a teacher but painted every day - multiple times a day while my kids were napping!

PSST:  How do you describe your painting style and color choices? Have you found particular colors that are essential for your paintings?
​
BCF:  I would say I lean into impressionism with plenty of interpretive color and am getting looser and looser as time goes by. I love underpainting in various ways (complementary or local color, depending on the mood I want to create). I’m fairly frugal and don’t think a pastelist needs or has to have every single color available on the market. I mostly rely on warm greens, wonderful blues, yellows, and warm ochres. I live in the desert Southwest of the Texas Panhandle where we have prairie and flat horizons for 360 degrees! These colors are everywhere. 

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PSST:  What is your ‘favorite thing” you use in painting? A special gadget or tool you have discovered or a special technique that you have developed that you would pass on to others?

BCF:  My fan brush! I use it in almost every painting. I love the texture it makes in the underpainting (I usually use alcohol). It is wonderful for grasses and trees.

PSST:  Is participation with pastel society competitions an important step for an artist?

BCF:  I believe so! My first competitions and exhibits were thrilling. It’s wonderful to hang with other artists and meet new friends with similar passions. People often ask me how to know “when they’re ready” - I always say, “you won’t ever know if you don’t try!” And “if you don’t try, the answer is always no.”
​
PSST:  What social media, websites or art-focused groups are you associated with?

​BCF: 
  • I’m very active on Instagram - @bfields is my “handle”
  • My blog site is bethanyfieldsblog.com
  • My Youtube channel is https://www.youtube.com/c/BethanyFields/
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In studying skies, sometimes we miss the more simple effects we can create for more dramatic scenes of thunderheads and cumulus clouds. ​

PSST:  Please tell us about your Patreon membership.
​
BCF:  I dipped my toe into filming my studio process for YouTube years ago. It was an on-again-off-again venture and many friends encouraged me to try Patreon as a better platform. It’s a wonderful way to support creation and make it doable for artists providing lessons.

​I work on it about 35 hours a week. I have several “tiers” of membership each with its own benefits. My most popular is my “Sapphire” tier which has a new video lesson each Monday (usually between 20-40 minutes long) and additional blog posts throughout the month.

I approach it as a full time job! I don’t have assistants or anyone helping me plan, design, film, edit, do voiceovers, take photographs, and write each lesson. It is a passion project for me to share pastel. I have students from all over the world and it has been a wonderful way to broaden the medium. I am so thankful for my patrons. The income helps me pay for my son’s college tuition, have braces for my younger two children, pay for guitar lessons, etc. Being a working artist is difficult and sales of paintings in my region are sporadic. Patreon is a wonderful platform for artists and creators.
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Pastel Society of Southeast Texas, bringing the beauty of pastel to international artists and collectors. A 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization, based in the Greater Houston area.
​All images on this website copyright 2022 by listed artist and PSST.
​

  • Home
  • About
    • About
    • Officers/Committees
    • Communicate!
  • Meetings/Workshops 2023
    • Challenges
  • Membership
    • Benefits of Membership
    • Join/Renew Membership
    • Honors
  • Member Gallery
  • Blog & Interviews
    • Interviews >
      • Pamela Hamilton 2021
      • Jeri Greenberg 2021
      • Dawn Emerson 2021
      • Dakota Pastels 2021
      • Jen Evenhus 2021
      • Karen Margulis 2020
      • Cindy Crimmin 2020
      • Bethany Fields 2020
      • Rita Kirkman 2020
      • Interviews 2014-2019
  • Classes
  • Exhibitions
    • Member Show 2022
    • Member Show 2021
    • AOTP 2020
    • Pastel Challenge
    • Policy for Entering
    • Standards/Etiquette
    • AOTP Past Shows
  • Members Only
    • Lists, Info & Ops
    • Zoom 2022 Demo/Meetings
    • Zoom 2021 Demos/Meetings
    • Zoom 2020 Demos/Meetings
    • Live Model Groups
    • Your Membership Card
    • Sponsors
    • Photograph & Edit
    • Critique Groups
    • Pastel Atelier >
      • Seeing Values
      • Unified Color
      • Playing with your Pastel Palette
    • Resources
    • ByLaws
    • Policies & Procedures
    • Exhibition Chair Guidelines
  • Contact Us
  • Albert Handell Workshop