S Beck, The Artist, says she fell in love with painting as a young girl. It was her foray into professional modeling at the age of 15 with Elite Modeling Agency that opened up her world and influenced her style. Traveling to Europe and most major U.S. cities sparked a curiosity inspired by the various cultures and artwork she discovered.
A major component of her growth as an artist was music. “I found music was a common core or language that united people together,” she says. S Beck and her husband, Bryan, an accomplished concert pianist who was trained classically in his teens by a Juilliard professor, share a love for R&B, funk, country and gospel genres. He is a No. 1 Billboard artist, writer and producer who has worked with such artists as Chaka Khan, Stevie Wonder, Kylie Minogue, Justin Timberlake and *NSYNC.
With Bryan’s recording studio, aka “the lab,” which showcases collected and treasured musical instruments on the wall, plus being around such an eclectic group of musicians, S Beck was destined to find her own abstract style of painting the musical instruments that surrounded her.
When the couple moved to Nashville in 2008, S Beck found even more inspiration. “I fell in love with the people and the heartbeat of this city…MUSIC,” she says. “To me, the guitar is Nashville’s logo; it’s everywhere. Being in Nashville, mixed with all of my life experiences, seemed more of a calling to express music on a blank canvas and to feature the beautiful, complex, detailed, sexy instruments that so many amazing human beings here play to create something that moves and unites us all.”
Over the past three to five years, her paintings have focused primarily on guitars and piano keys. When people view these paintings, she wants them to be taken back to a live event, a concert they attended, or to a time in their lives when music helped them overcome challenges and motivated them to persevere.
“The local DNA landscape in middle Tennessee is just breathtaking,” says S Beck. “That alone inspires me. The rock, the limestone, the hills, the people, the cultures, the music, all of it.”
She blends these elements into her paintings. “My paintings are certainly not flat,” she says. “They have tons of character, mixed media and multiple layers.” Along with oils and acrylics, she mixes in ink, graphite, plaster, glass, foils, spray paint, rocks, sand, earth and basically anything else that captivates her.
“I’m self-taught and have my own signature style,” says S Beck. “None of my paintings are identical, they are custom and one-of-a-kind.”
Her husband is her biggest fan. “We’ve raised six children and are now raising the newest addition to our family: a European Doberman named Ava.” During the pandemic, Bryan encouraged her to start selling her paintings again and they had an art studio built on their property.
“Being artists, we are good for each other and connect in a special way that pushes and brings out the best in us both,” says S Beck. “That is why this began to flourish. Bryan’s musician friends loved my work and it simply took flight within our own private community.”
Her newest exhibits are available on her website, Instagram and may be seen in various locations.
“As people, I find we have so much in common, yet still are so very different,” she says. “Music has a special way of uniting our hearts together and speaking an unspoken love language. I hope my works open a conversation, bringing people together. The combination of music and art has a unique way of doing that.”