(Beth spoke a little about her life experiences)
Just in dealing with being a military wife, which also lends very much the same feel as being a single mom, I've experienced the extremes of life slightly more intensely than the average 34 year old woman. This life has matured me in ways and has also freed my inner being in ways that to me seem miraculous.

AM What type of training did you have for your art?
BC I was trained formally in graphic arts, computer art and printing, 16 years ago. I went to a technical school; I learned technical, mechanical things there. It was not a very artistic experience to tell the truth. When I stopped working, I ended my career of ten years in commercial printing to be a stay at home mom. At age 26, I picked up a paintbrush. I had color and ink in my system. I learned a lot about how colors blend by mixing my own ink for the jobs I printed. I also learned about commercial art and advertising on the job, how color can play on emotions or release feelings through stimulation in the brain. The commercials we see constantly on tv trigger us into feeling hungry, or feeling like we need things. That realization began my awakening. I had spent 4 years in Germany without a tv and was over stimulated by the United States mainstream, tv in particular. Everything about the united states, it felt like too much, and still does! I also had many new feelings to deal with being a mom for the first time at age 27; creating seemed like a very sane course of action! I feel that deep down we are all self-taught. It is our own opening and understanding that allows us to learn and express what we have learned. We have to open ourselves, others may show us the way, ultimately we teach ourselves and with that in mind I began to explore acrylics and brush techniques.

AM How long have you done your art? How has it evolved?
BC I started in 1996. The artwork has gotten lighter, my life has changed quite a bit since I started. It's very personal and reflects what I've experienced. I've also become more realistic and less abstract, I've just sat and looked over my work of late and came to that conclusion. My life has become more centered and so that has allowed me to see what is right in front of my eyes, reality. Perhaps that is why the shift from abstract to realistic. I still love abstract and conceptual art and will no doubt do more of those too.

AM Your work has a very emotional, symbolic quality to it. Where do you find your themes?
BC My life provides me with the themes. I am a practicing Zen Buddhist; I have been meditating for over ten years. In that practice, I've learned to slow down and witness my thinking and be with my bodily sensations, moment to moment. Through the course of this daily practice, I began to see things; the loops in my mind began to dissolve and eventually I saw the interconnectedness of all that is here. I am also expressing my views on positive sexuality to some degree. Women are not encouraged to be openly sexual, we receive messages from birth that are unreasonable and unnatural. My life provides great content for my artistic expressions! I try to express from the deep still part of me. Most of these paintings are expressions that i can not get out any other way. The landscapes I do are sometimes internal landscapes and bear no resemblance to anything on this planet. Although, I have been doing some realistic ones since I moved to Arizona.

AM Many of your pieces resemble the stark style of Frida Kahlo. Are you influenced by her work? Which artists' works have touched you?
BC I am not aware of Frida Kahlo's style. That's interesting to find that I resemble someone else's style! I was originally influenced by outsider art from the deep South; Mose T and Sybil Gibson are two that come to mind. I also stumbled into an online registry of women artists and found Georgina Forbes' acrylics. I was really influenced by why she paints; she was a childhood abuse survivor. My heart has been touched by many women in my life who have suffered abuse and are healing from that experience, so I have a soft spot there, and a lot of feelings about that subject too! More paintings...

AM Your primary medium is acrylic. Do you work in other media as well? Is there something you'd like to try and haven't? Why?
BC I've recently gotten into found object mixed media and texture pastes. I want to do bigger pieces and I'd also like to be commissioned more often! I really don't have the space to do bigger pieces at this moment.

AM Tell me about your workspace. Do you have a studio?
BC I work out of my home. The third bedroom is an open space/office/studio. I am quickly outgrowing this space. I would like, in the future, to work outside my home in studio space or my dream is to have a space where other women can display, sell and make their art in co-operation.

AM Do you need to be in a particular mindframe to do your work? If so, how do you get there? Do you use music, meditation, or do you just jump right in?
BC Well, I don't really have a way there. I just sort of find myself in need of the creative release that painting provides. I like to listen to music while I'm painting.

AM On your website, you have lots of pieces up. How often do you get a chance to work, and what time of day works for you best?
BC it's been flowing, the amount of pieces have accumulated over the course of 7 years or so. i find time while my daughter is in school or late at night. I've also worked with her side by side. she is quite an artist also!

AM . Talk a little about your family. How does what they do affect your creativity? Do your partner and child help or hinder that process?
BC My family life in not typical. My partners have contributed greatly to my creative processes and are also very supportive and encouraging. my daughter is helpful and likes to participate in making art. I do prefer to work alone most of the time however.

AM Were you encouraged to create as a child?
BC I feel all children are born creative. My parents really did not know what to do with me. I tried to express my art early on, at home and in school. I was directed to the technical spectrum of art. As a young person, I heeded the advice I was given. I'm sure their fears about my supporting myself as an artist had something to do with the direction I received. I have not actually gotten to a place where I am making enough money with what I do to support myself. That is not actually a goal. It would be a dream come true if that were to happen. I am blessed with a great support team here: my family.

AM Would you encourage your daughter to aspire to be an artist?
BC Yes, wholeheartedly. Her father draws with her and I paint with her. Sarah has her own ideas and expresses them very well through artistic means. Children's inner creativity, if encouraged and nurtured, continues on into adulthood. Many adults have lost inner abilities to freely create and that in itself can lead to depression, lack of expression. In my humble opinion, parents, school, and our culture tend to stifle, constrict, and bind children's creative natural sight. We get processed into this overstimulated state of being very early on in life. We are constantly fed images from the outside/in instead of expressing our selves from the inside/out as would naturally happen if we let that inner creativity flow and grow with us into adulthood, which for me, seems like a natural and healthy path of growth.

AM What advice can you offer to other moms trying to do their art?
BC For women who consider themselves to busy or distracted, I would encourage them to make time for their creative spirit, nurture it, keep doing it; keep showing it, keep growing with it. This world needs our voices and vision. Our children need to know that we are creators. We reflect our creator best when we are ourselves creating; that is something worthy of sharing with your children.