Beth Bathe

Beth’s painting style is unique, looking somewhat like a watercolor, or is it an oil painting? She uses Cobra Water Mixable Oil Colors in thin washes with a limited tonalist palette, using unconventional tools such as squeegees and qtips along with her brushes. Her representational paintings have been described by critics as evoking nostalgia, like that of an old sepia toned photograph, often with just touches of color. She is highly influenced by painter Andrew Wyeth, and her subject matter is often what she refers to as vanishing landscape, including finding beauty in buildings, barns and old towns of a time gone by and often beyond their prime. Old barns, a Victorian farmhouse, a back alley, a fire escape, an old mill, or an old split rail fence down a country road are common subjects. Beth paints primary on location to catch her subject at a specific time, especially how the light and shadows play on the surface create drama and emotion.

Beth has a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University ‘81. She teaches classes and leads workshops at her studio, Short Dog Studio, in Ephrata, PA, where she shares her space with her photographer partner and three cardigan welsh corgis.