Drawing

 Settling In Charcoal on Canson Edition white, 22" x 30" 2014

Those Homes are Gone Charcoal on Canson Edition white, 22" x 30" 2014

I like making these - despite the accompanying mess. 

As of February 1st, I have moved out of Porter Mill and back into my home studio. It's a smaller space but the light is wonderful and I have a small porch that I can stand on when I need a break. 

I am in the library right now and it's silent except for someone eating chips. It's driving me insane. Would this bother any of you? Is it just me? 

Love,

Bea

Upcoming Events

I am excited to be working towards a solo exhibition in the Carol Schlosberg Alumni Gallery at Montserrat College of Art. This exhibition will be on display from March 15th - April 6th.

Below are a few corresponding events. All take place at Montserrat College of Art, 23 Essex Street Beverly MA 01915. 

Contemporary Cocktail - Februrary 28th, 7:00pm - 9:00pm

What dynamic forces insert themselves into the creative process? The artistic impulses of control, surrender, perfection and illusion are explored in conversation by visiting artists Masako Kamiya, Bea Modisett, Antoniadis & Stone and curator Leonie Bradbury.

Opening Reception - March 20th, 5:00 - 7:00pm

Public Artist Talk - March 26th, 11:30am - 12:15pm

I hope you can make it to the exhibition or one of the talks!

Back to painting,

Bea

Website Update

Image courtesy of HallSpace

I just updated my website with images of all my 2013 paintings and a few install shots of my current solo exhibition. These paintings are on view in By Way of Bangkok at HallSpace through January 25th.

See you soon alligator,
Bea

Official!

Bea Modisett

By Way of Bangkok

HallSpace

December 7th - January 25th

Opening Reception: Saturday, December 7th 3:00 - 6:00pm

950 Dorcester Avenue Boston MA 02125

Thoughts of Kith and Kin, oil on canvas over panel, 2013. 16" x 20"

"By Way of Bangkok" features the paintings Modisett has created since March 2013 when she returned from an extended solo backpacking journey through Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Burma. Bea Modisett received her BFA in painting from Montserrat College of Art in 2007. She received fellowships to the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vermont, and Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences in Rabun Gap, Georgia. Modisett has exhibited at the Kingston Gallery, Boston, Endicott College Center for the Arts, Beverly, HallSpace, Boston, Decordova Museum and Sculpture Parks, Lincoln, and many other venues throughout New England. Bea Modisett was born in Washington, D.C. and lives in Beverly, Massachusetts. Find this on Facebook! Hope to see you. Xo, Bea

Interview with Temporary Land Bridge

I was very happy to collaborate with Temporary Land Bridge over the past few weeks to put together this interview. Head over to the site and check out some new work/words.

Love,

Bea

Upcoming Exhibition: By Way of Bangkok

The Steady, Quiet, Plodding Ones. 16" x 20" Oil on canvas over panel. 2013.

Hi All, 

Sorry for the crickets as of late. I am working non-stop in preparation for my upcoming solo show By Way of Bangkok at HallSpace (Boston, MA). I just wanted to drop by and let you know I am alive and kicking! Above is a painting that will be featured in the exhibition. 

Facebook page for the Opening Reception! 

See you soon, I promise,

Bea

PS - I got the title of the painting above from this gemstone. 

To Thine Own Self Be True.

 The Reconsideration of the Mike Davis Situation, acrylic on panel, 24" x 24" 2007

Mirthless Laughter, oil on canvas, 16" x 20" 2013

My paintings have changed a lot over the years. I know, visually, there seems to be a big jump between those two paintings up there (though I know they are surface and that the similarities outweigh the differences). Sometimes I think the paintings I made a few years ago are stronger than the ones I am making now, and that's hard to swallow. Then I remind myself I am making the paintings I need to make right now. This is what's happening. I feel I am moving forward and that is important. 

I told my dad the other day that I struggle with how dark my paintings have become, but that using brighter colors (and I have tried) makes me feel like a fraud, and that in using them I would be trying to trick people, or myself. It's just not in me right now, what I am doing feels right. His response, which I am thankful for:

Mother heard an NPR discussion about F. Scott Fitzgerald today.  One of the last things he did was list the works of literature everyone should read before they depart this life.  One such work was "Sanctuary" by William Faulkner.  I read it last year and it was one of the darkest, most depressing works of literature I've ever read.  Hemingway's masterpiece, "Farewell to Arms," is of a similar genre.  And I'm currently about a third of the way through "Richard the Third" by William Shakespeare, hardly an inspiring bit of upbeat drama, and it isn't even among his tragedies.  And speaking of tragedies, there are the Greeks who set the stage for all the literature that follows.  So my conclusion is that whether you're a visual artist or a verbal artist, you can't be perceptive and honest and still portray the world in bright colors.  On the other hand, Shakespeare, and the Greeks, and William Faulkner, also wrote comedies.  So unless we can also see or imagine a bright side, the world would become unbearable.

Back to Shakespeare:  "This above all else.  To thine own self be true.  Thou canst not then be false to any man."

Love ya!

Dad

Preach it Dad. 

This was good for me, maybe it will be good for you too? 

Love,

Bumble