Beth Shields "Chartreuse Mantra" Acrylic and Graphite on Raw Canvas, Oversized Abstract in Chartreuse, Santa Cruz California Art, 2023

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In this oversized abstract in acrylic and graphite on raw canvas by Santa Cruz artist Beth Shields, a wide diagonal … Read more In this oversized abstract in acrylic and graphite on raw canvas by Santa Cruz artist Beth Shields, a wide diagonal of chartreuse and olive green crosses a blush-beige canvas, thin in some places and thick in others. At the upper left a black cloud of paint sits under a loop of graphite scrawl that looks like handwriting, and a small white block rests nearby. Black splatter and fine lines trail across the lower right, while green drips fall from the edge of the main shape. The title suggests repetition, a phrase said over and over, and the repeating strokes and loops carry the same rhythm. At more than six feet wide, the raw canvas gives the green a soft, earthy ground.

A statement wall for a living room, a bedroom, a dining room or an open stair. The chartreuse brightens neutral rooms of white, greige and oak, and it pairs well with olive, forest green, black metal and natural stone. Above a long sofa or a low bed, its horizontal sweep feels calm and architectural. It would also suit a boutique hotel or an office.

Acrylic and graphite on raw canvas, 80 x 62 x 1.5 in (203.2 x 157.5 x 3.8 cm).

Beth Shields paints in acrylic on raw, unprimed canvas, letting the bare weave show through as part of the composition. Color is laid in as broad scraped or brushed masses, then drawn into with graphite, splattered, and left to drip. Graphite scribbles and fine lines give the work a draftsman's immediacy, and the sandy tone of the canvas becomes the ground of the picture.

Beth Shields is an abstract painter based in Santa Cruz, California, where she has lived and worked for more than thirty years, with a studio at the Tannery Arts Center. She grew up in Southern California and earned her BA in painting, sculpture and graphic arts from UCLA in 1976. She has said she knew from her first remembered thought that she wanted to draw and paint.

Her work has been collected by corporations including IBM, Visa USA and Metropolitan Life, and by hotels from the Bel Air Hotel to Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott properties worldwide. She has exhibited widely in California, including juried exhibitions at the Monterey Museum of Art, and has taken part in the Santa Cruz County Open Studios tour for three decades. She describes her painting as a search, and one that rewards risk. See less