BETHANN MORAN-HANDZLIK (AUDIO)

Artist bio https://www.bethannmoran.com/   @pasmeche on instagram   I work from namely from direct observation, meaning I stand within or before my subject. It is challenging taking large canvases on site into the landscape but I work this way to experience the subject first hand. Sometimes a larger painting will take two weeks or more and sometimes I need to return to the same spot the following year to finish.  Typically, I also bring the painting into the studio and continue to work on it from memory.  The experience of the natural world is always woven into the work I am attempting to make.  I am constantly balancing what the brush work expresses, my imagination and my perception of the subject.  Sometimes while painting,  language leaves me.  Sometimes I feel like I disappear. Eventually a mosquito will bite me or the bitter cold is too much and I return.   When  the painting is complete the viewer can re-see, re-experience what I saw; and then be drawn repeatedly into a contemplation of everything within the painting and within themselves.  My hope is that the paintings will resonate with people and in some way will help them deepen their appreciation for the natural world and assists them on their path toward joy.   My work has garnered awards and is held in private, corporate and public collections. My paintings have been exhibited in regional, national exhibitions including plein air events, galleries and museums. I was awarded a Hudson River Fellowship/ Grand Central Atelier in 2014 and a La Napoule artist residency in France in 2016. I have painted during our families travels to Scotland and had the privilege to do master copy works at the National Gallery Scotland, National Gallery London. My work is represented by Tory Folliard Gallery, Milwaukee, Wi and Edgewood Orchard Gallery, Door County, Wi.   I earned a BA from St. Norbert College and an  MFA from University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, where I was mentored by John Colt and Tom Uttech among others.  I enjoyed a long teaching career and have taught at University Wisconsin Milwaukee, University Wisconsin Whitewater, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs NY, among others and I continue to enjoy teaching workshops.       I am married to the poet Patrick J. Moran and we have three wonderful children.