Beth Wheeler’s artwork is primarily inspired by the wonder of nature. She works most often in oils, but also dabbles in charcoal, chalk pastel, and acrylics. Most recently, Beth has been experimenting with miniature landscapes based on the idea of closing the distance between viewer and painting, creating a sense of stillness, intimacy, and being “drawn in” to the painted space. Beth is a graduate of IUP (MFA, Painting) and WVU (MA, Art History) and has also studied painting under Mr. Chuck Olson (Saint Francis University). She has spent time studying and working in France and Italy as well as her native Pennsylvania.

“Landscape, for me, is about engaging purposefully with the world around me, developing a greater awareness of and appreciation for the places that I live in and travel through. To paint the scenes that make me pause and fill me with wonder is to extend and interpret these experiences—to recognize the emotional and spiritual import of these moments, to alter and reexperience through the lens of memory. Painting is a relatively slow, painstaking endeavor, removed from the instant gratification that defines much of twenty-first century life. This process itself seems to me a metaphor for learning to notice and value the subtleties of life, from the humble beauty of a stand of gnarled trees to the ephemeral glory of the skies. Such scenes, like their painted counterparts, only reveal themselves when we step out of the bustle of daily life and allow ourselves to be stilled, to be truly present and aware and open. Sometimes natures shouts to us, but most of time, it whispers. I am perhaps most captivated by the whispers.

While I continue to experiment with a variety of techniques and ways of working, I am fascinated with and influenced by the landscapists of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including the Barbizon artists of France, regional French painter Jean-Louis Rouméguère and the American Tonalist painter George Inness. My work also draws some inspiration from Franciscan tradition and Christian mysticism, as I often feel that my experiences of faith and of nature are inextricably intertwined.”

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