Some spaces and practices, for the majority of us, become seemingly lost to our youth. Imagine the limitless landscape of a canvas with all the paints you could desire in a room with tables, chairs, and walls seasoned with the rainbow of passive splotches and swipes of projects gone by. Such rooms tell the story of the creativity and possibility they embody, but only insofar that a person had made it so. Through her journey in this life, despite the sharp turns and stops, Betsy Cole has done what fleets many and is the goal of most: spending our time doing exactly what it is that gives us purpose in this world.
Betsy had known, as many of us do, that she had a calling, an itch not scratched by the path she walked in life. A very successful run as an interior designer for over 35 years had been the focus of her creative energy. Impressive, to say the least. In this time, she often mused about painting and what it would be like to spend her days putting color to canvas. Ever willing to take a stab at her dreams, she attended an art class to get some time in with the subject of her daydreams. In fact, she attended multiple classes designed for beginner artists or whoever was willing to try their hand at painting. You’d assume this to be the blossoming point of her now prolific art practice, where daily, she creates new pieces based on the resonance of emotion experienced through her life and meditative practice. But in actuality, it was a point of calcification that kept her from exploring her passions and taking the path that led to her dreams. “I’ve lived with perfection my whole life,” says Betsy. To have teachers who were supposed to be guiding lights for her stop her in the midst of her creative process was quite stifling. “For so long, I had this fear, and I felt so vulnerable,” says Betsy in relation to her artist journey for most of her life. Then, one day, after being convinced by her daughter to take a trip to Bali, a moment of serendipity befell Betsy.
As she sat on the plane, she noticed a tiny ad in her guidebook about an abstract painting class. Upon arrival, she felt a feeling of calm and release she had been missing in her day-to-day, and she attended a private class with her teacher, Wayan Karja. The welcoming nature and space to create outside of the bounds of what one “should” paint left Betsy in the first truly open space for her artistry to flourish. “You Westerners think everything needs to be perfect. It’s about play,” is a message from her teacher that stuck with her as she explored what it would be like to “paint from the heart,” the practice emblematic of her painting since. Recounting the open nature of learning to paint in Bali, she referenced her teacher's advice, “If you get stuck, just walk in the rice fields.” This openness and ability to put paint to canvas, reflecting her emotions and striving for nothing else, has given Betsy a boundless space wherein her artistry can flourish.
Now, as she continues to explore her creativity, it’s not without fear. However, the continual willingness to come back to the canvas and allow herself to live her life embodying the artistry she’s known herself to have for years has Betsy embracing the calling she’s longed for.
Working through her paintings as a reflection of her emotions can be both dark or light for Betsy, but it all reflects some inner truth she’d been feeling at the time. It’s this capturing of emotion that has led her to leave her pieces unnamed, as she finds it more valuable for the viewer to experience the piece for themselves rather than being led in a certain direction by a title. This embodiment of abstraction is a principle she’s seen appreciated by most everyone who has participated in her open studio.
Betsy is a testament to following the inner voice, the urge toward a calling that may be nagging at the back of your thoughts. She finds herself channeling herself as she connects oil paints to canvas via pallet knife, and if the myriad of works donning her space is any indication, there’s no slowing down. Let Betsy’s story be a calling to your own. Sure, there is fear and vulnerability. But, a certainty in this life is that stepping forward and embracing our callings allow hope, catharsis, and belonging to couple some of the more intimidating emotions as we walk our chosen paths.
Visit BetsyColeArt.com for more on this fantastic artist and human being!
I either live my life and never get to do this, or do it now.