Show Summary:
In this episode of Painterly Life, host Shannon Grissom interviews award-winning painter Mary Beth Harrison, who shares her journey from being an artist in waiting to a celebrated creator. They discuss the importance of nature as a source of inspiration, the joy of plein-air painting, and the impact of art on community and history. Mary Beth also reflects on her teaching career and how it has influenced her artistic growth, offers advice on overcoming creative blocks, and emphasizes the significance of embracing creativity in all aspects of life.
The conversation explores key moments, including Mary Beth’s return to painting in her fifties, prompted by a heartfelt gift from her husband. She discusses her approach to plein air painting, sharing how her surroundings, particularly the breathtaking beauty of nature, fuel her creativity. Mary Beth reflects on how her background in teaching helped shape her artistic journey and emphasizes the importance of embracing creativity in all its forms.
Throughout the episode, listeners are treated to Mary Beth’s wisdom on overcoming creative blocks, the significance of having a dedicated art space, and the joy of teaching others. As she prepares to launch an introductory oil painting class, Mary Beth encourages everyone to reconnect with their creative passions, reminding us that art has the power to forge connections and bring joy to our lives.
Tune in to hear Marybeth’s inspiring stories, creative insights, and the magic of art that resonates deeply in her community and beyond. For more on Marybeth, visit marybethparrisonart.com, and be sure to catch new episodes of Painterly Life on the first and third Thursday of every month!
Highlights
00:00 Igniting Creativity: The Painterly Life Podcast Introduction
01:18 Marybeth Harrison: Journey from Teacher to Artist
05:09 The Beauty of Plein Air Painting
06:39 Art and Community: Supporting Local History
11:16 The Interplay of Teaching and Art
14:36 Finding Inspiration in Nature
16:07 Overcoming Creative Blocks
18:50 Teaching the Next Generation of Artists
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About Mary Beth:
Mary Beth Harrison, Photo by Kerby Smith
Mary Beth Harrison has called herself an “artist in waiting” for most of her adult life. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biology from San Francisco State University and Master’s degree in Social Justice Education from Fresno State University, then turned her time and talents into her teaching career and raising a family, all the while occasionally mentioning that whenever she retired, she’d like to take up art again, which she had so enjoyed throughout childhood and high school.
Her return to the art world began when, for her 50th birthday, her husband gave her an entire painting set up – easel, paint, brushes, canvas, etc., and said, “You don’t have to wait for retirement; start now.” And she did! The joy of creating art returned full blast and no one was more surprised than she when her creations began to sell.
She celebrated retiring from her 35-year teaching career by hosting her first solo art show in 2020. Since then she has had a second solo show featuring 12 paintings of historic sites in the Sierra foothills and has been a featured artist in several group shows. She is very grateful for the support, encouragement, and friendship of the many generous artists in our community and the Yosemite Sierra Artists organization.
Mary Beth has lately turned her focus to plein air (out in the air) painting, saying, “California is my favorite palette!” She is the co-leader of the Yosemite Sierra Artists Plein Air group which meets monthly to paint at local spots. She delights in showing her work to others who love this area and laughs when people say her paintings look prettier than reality – “Not true,” she says, “Look closer. The beauty is truly there.”
Mary Beth’s art has been shown at the Circle Gallery in Madera, Sorenson Gallery in Fresno, Carnegie Art Center in Turlock, the Huse Skelly Gallery in Newport Beach, the San Joaquin River Parkway in Fresno, the Gallery at Oakhurst Spirits, and the Yosemite Gateway Art Center in Oakhurst.
She has won awards for her paintings in many California art competitions and her paintings of local scenery have also been featured on the covers of the Ponderosa Telephone Directory, Valley Public Radio Audiophile Magazine, Mid-State Logger’s Jamboree Program, and the Sierra Art Trails catalog.
Her latest works can be seen at the Yosemite Gateway Art Center in Oakhurst, CA, Jennie’s Garden in North Fork, and on her website.
Links
Website: https://marybethharrisonart.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marybeth.a.harrison/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sweethomenorthfork
Show Transcript:
Shannon Grissom (00:05.688)
Hi, I’m Shannon Grissom. Are you looking to ignite your creativity? Or how about be inspired by a steady stream of muses? Welcome to Painterly Life, the podcast that celebrates those who create, inspire, and innovate. So whether you’re looking to spark your next big idea, reignite your passion, or simply soak in some creative energy,
This is the place for you. Painterly Life, where every guest is a new muse, just for you.
Shannon Grissom (00:49.794)
Welcome to Painterly Life. I’m your host, Shannon Grissom. Today’s special guest is Mary Beth Harrison. Mary Beth is a joyful, award-winning painter. Her beautiful creations have graced the cover of several publications, and she has a deep, deep love for her community. You know, she’s always the first to offer support to everyone.
She’s truly an artist artist. Welcome Mary Beth.
Thank you so much, Shannon. It’s great to be here.
So there was a time, you you’ve done all these things, but there was a time when you actually called yourself an artist and waiting. So how did you get from there to here?
You know, in looking back, of course, you see things more clearly. As a child, art was my very favorite thing. I couldn’t wait to do art in school. I loved having teachers who worked art into other lessons. If there was an art project after church or after school or in the Brownies or in any kind of group, I was all over it. It brought me so much joy and I got a lot of great positive feedback. I had the
Mary Beth Harrison (02:04.638)
excellent high school art teacher. I got to learn so many different mediums, but somehow after high school I just kind of let it go. I went to college. I majored in biology. I love drawing little parameciums, but I kind of let my art go and I didn’t even realize it. And so as the years went by, I had a 35 year teaching career. I raised two children. We moved to the country. I saw this amazing beauty all around me all the time and I.
Every once in a I would say to my husband, when I retire, I’m going to be one of those little old ladies that takes evening painting classes. And for my 50th birthday, long before I retired, he gave me an entire painting set up and said, there’s no reason to wait. Get started. So I did.
Well, I mean, what a beautiful gift, not only for you, but for all of us who get to enjoy your art. This is great. So what are you working on now?
Well, post-Christmas, it’s kind of a, you know, you take a couple of weeks off painting to do family things and it always takes a little bit of grease to get those wheels moving again. So I like to start with things I’m very comfortable with, things that don’t take a lot of planning or drawing skills. Going out in nature is always a great way to get inspired. This was the first thing I painted when I got back to painting after taking a Christmas holiday. And this was just…
A scene from a hike through Yosemite in the fall. I like scenes like that when we’re just wanting to get loose because it matter how many trees I put in it or where the leaves are. The shape of the trail is all up to me. It be very imaginative. Nothing has to be precise. There’s no buildings in it. It’s a great way to get back into it. And I’m looking forward to continuing my exploration of California as my palette and getting outside to paint in all of our good weather days.
Mary Beth Harrison (04:03.596)
We went out yesterday with the group and it’s always so much good.
Were you always a loose painter or did you have to do some shifting to get there?
I’ve always been attracted to loose painting, but when you learn, you need to get all the fundamentals down. And even in loose painting, you need to know some things about color mixing, color theory, perspective. So I’ve heard artists say that as you get better, you get looser, which feels counterintuitive, but it does seem to work that way. But in the end, if you want to be a realistic painter, that’s all wonderful. That’s not my goal. I love Impressionism I want to…
convey the joy and the light and the feeling of that scene. I don’t need all the minutiae to be perfect
And how did you, you’ve done a lot of still life, you’ve done lots of different subjects. How did you, or what fueled your passion for plein air painting? Cause you’re doing a lot of that right now.
Mary Beth Harrison (05:09.068)
Well, I feel very blessed to live in a beautiful area. And I’m so inspired by nature’s beauty that you’ve got to get outside to see it. There’s nothing like it. They call it forest bathing just to renew your soul. But for an artist, being out in it is where you see what it actually looks like. Because photographs don’t always tell the whole truth. The shadows can be too dark. The light can be too light. There are things you can’t see in a photograph that you can when you’re out there.
I live in a very small town that I also love very much. one of the first paintings I ever did that actually made me feel like my art to make a difference was a painting of just the downtown in my small town. I painted it for my daughter who had gone away to college and was homesick. And I got to show it to local people. It like she was coming for Christmas, so I got to hang onto it for a while. And people loved it so much, they asked me to put it on cards and tote bags and things like that.
And that was in 2014. That image was still one of my best sellers. I’ve been hanging in my daughter’s living room all these years now. But even her friends who come to her house and look at it think it’s a pretend place. They say, that’s not real is it. You’re like, well, that’s my hometown. That’s where I grew up. And people say, well, you made it look so magical. I’m like, it is magical. The buildings are old and beautiful. The street kind of does an s-curve through them., And I’m just very blessed and lucky to live here.
Getting out in it is the way to do it.
Well, I think they’re blessed to have you in North Fork and in Madera County. You’ve done a lot to support the community. Can you speak a little bit about your work with nonprofits and your support that you’ve done over the years?
Mary Beth Harrison (06:55.52)
I do donate quite a bit of art when people are doing silent auctions and things like that. One of my main partnerships with the North Fork History Group, I’ve always been kind of a history nerd. And when I got to see the photographs they have taken from the late 1800s to like the 40’s I got so inspired by what our town used to look like and the things that you’ve done. That they let me paint a picture of the old sawmill that ran this town for many years.
And it was 36 inches long, a really long painting showing all those logs laying in front of the equipment. And when I painted it, I was like, painting is the history of our town. It doesn’t belong to someone’s house. I need to give it to somebody. I need it to be seen. And I ran into a lady who was in the history group, and I happened to have the painting in the car, and I was telling her about it. And I just went and got it and said,
here, give this to the history group and let them sell raffle tickets because they were trying to raise money to preserve our our history. so lots of people got to see it. They showed it for a whole year selling tickets at different events before somebody finally won it. And then the person who won it contacted me immediately to say that her father used to work at that mill and it made her cry when she saw the painting. And since then I’ve donated a painting to them every year.
And I did a whole series of 12 paintings of local history. They didn’t provide all the photos, but most of them. And just simple things like I didn’t know that the lakes in the High Sierras naturally had no fish in them. And early pioneers wanted to be able to fish in the High Sierras. And so they figured out a way to do it. They got these big canisters. They put them on the back of donkeys and mules and horses.
and they filled them with little tiny fish and they come up to all the lakes and populated the lakes. And like you said, I made it in biology. So I know that that’s a really wrong thing to do biologically. But it’s done now. And what I admire about it is just the human spirit to get things done. I see a need. How are we going to meet that need? Let’s take fish on the the back of donkeys up into the High Sierras. So I did a painting of these pack mules going up.
Mary Beth Harrison (09:20.674)
And so many people who saw that painting knew of somebody who did that job. was their dad or their grandpa. And it brought tears to their eyes. And there’s some beloved restaurant on Bass Lake that no longer exists. But people, I painted it. People came and said, wow, my grandparents got engaged there. I used to go skating there. I had some of my best times of my youth there. And I ended up having to paint that one three times.
cause people kept wanting that scene bigger and bigger. And of course, I put it on a card and things. And I don’t know, I just, really hit home with me how art can connect you to people. a very, as a naturally kind of introverted person, you know, the last person who would want to public speak, I find my art makes me so brave. I just, I can talk about it all day. People want to talk about it with me. It brings out a whole nother side.
of your personality when you’re passionate and you want to talk about what you do. And other people are passionate about it too. And I’ve had, I painted old trucks. I had this guy come to my art booth early on. He saw an old truck I had painted and he just his face just lit up. And his wife said, you want that, don’t you? And he’s like, I do. And she’s like, well, you should buy it. And he’s like, no, I’ve never bought art. And she’s like, well, you never want anything. You like that. And he…
Okay, and he bought this painting and I heard later from other people in the show that he unwrapped it from the bad guy present and showed it to every person he passed. Look at this painting I bought. Look at this truck
See and that’s your mission. That’s your mission to bring joy.
Mary Beth Harrison (11:09.762)
Well, art reaches people in ways that you just can’t otherwise.
So about your day job that you had for many years, how is that interwoven with what you do now? How has that helped your art?
Well, I think that everybody has some kind of spark of creativity in them and that sometimes our society encourages us to ignore those parts. Like, get a job, make money, don’t worry about this drive inside of you that makes you want to weld or something that, you know, you hear so many artists say that their parents told them, well, don’t make art, you’ll never make a living. And I was never told that, but I did love art so much.
All through high school I had the best art teacher, all through childhood, anytime there was an art project I was all over it. But I never considered going into art in college. I don’t know why, but I also loved biology, so it made sense for me to become a teacher. And I ended up teaching science for many years, but most of my career I was an independent study teacher, which means I worked with high school students who, for some reason or other, had gotten off track to graduate with their class.
And so my job was to meet with them one-on-one, figure out what they needed to do to graduate and get them there. And for a lot of kids, it’s safe and it made connections. And I got to be super creative doing it because you had to get creative. If you get a 16-year-old teenage boy who doesn’t want to read but has a great interest in fixing tractors
Mary Beth Harrison (12:56.874)
I can find a lot of stuff for you to read about fixing tractors and we can work through that. If you have a teenager who has a normal ability to get through school but has a really horrible home life, I can help through that too. So I got to be creative throughout my career, but the whole time the art was still calling to me. And of course, high school kids had to take an art class, so I did get to do some art with kids over the years, but I didn’t know what it would look like for me to get back into art.
remembered how much I loved to paint in high school and when I got that whole painting for my husband at age 50, I was just enthralled. I pretty much set it up in my dining room and went to the library, and got some books, and started watching YouTube videos. And then I started meeting other artists like you and getting, you you have to move in little incremental steps as an artist. And one of the things that I think artists
who haven’t begun their journey yet need to hear the most. So you have to give yourself grace. You have to understand that you’ve got to walk before you can run. That vision you have in your head of what you want to paint keep it there. But don’t expect to get there the first time you take the brushes out. Just take the small steps and give yourself a lot of compliments for taking those steps.
That was great advice. I remember wanting to paint a portrait when I was first starting out. And my teacher said, don’t paint anyone you know. Save that for later. Save that for later. Well, so what inspires you the most?
Shannon Grissom (14:35.818)
What really gets you going right now? I know that shifts over time.
Well, it’s funny, like yesterday we went to a lake, and I assumed that I would be painting the water and I walked all around the lake and up some paths along the side and the water was beautiful and the reflections were beautiful. There were clouds and trees and reflected in the water. So I just kept looking at this little dirt path on the side and how the sun was filtering through the tree and the path was almost golden in the distance where the sun was hitting it the hardest.
I just, I know myself, if I try to paint something that’s not like really sparking any excitement, I’m not going to enjoy it. And that’s probably won’t get a painting out of it that I, that I keep. So I’ll just like, I like that path. I’m going to go paint that path. And everybody’s like, why are you doing that path? There’s a lake here. I like, I like the path. Advice once, like when you’re looking at what everybody else is looking at, like let’s say you’re in Yosemite and everybody’s painting Half Dome
Turn around and see what’s behind you because it could be just as good and something that you haven’t seen before.
So what advice would you give, and you were touching on this earlier, what advice would you give someone who gets stuck? What do you do when things get a little challenging? Life happens to all of us. How do you fill your well? How do you refuel?
Mary Beth Harrison (16:07.79)
So for some reason, and it’s really common amongst artists, starting can be the hardest thing. Like you want to do it, you want to do it so badly, and you’re just like, you don’t know what to do first, and it feels intimidating to start. So I listen to a lot of artists’ podcasts, and advice I hear the most is when that happens, start setting up your areas. Put your paints out. Get the brushes out you want to use.
Clean up a little area that needs tidying. And pretty soon, you kind of dived into the artist mindset. And getting into that zone is really important. If you’re not in that zone because you’re worried about something that’s happening somewhere else in your house or something you need to do later that day, it’s hard to get into that creative zone. So if you can have a space that you set aside and you tell your family members, please don’t interrupt me unless this house is on fire because I’ll…
If I get in the zone and you come in and say, what can we make for dinner tonight? Then I’m out of the zone. I have to start from the beginning again. I keep extensive files of inspiring photographs on my iPad and just flipping through them can remind me, yeah, I remember when I took that trip. I really wanted to paint that old car I saw there or that crazy looking building or that beautiful beach. And then pretty soon you can kind of picture in your head, yeah, that’s…
I’ve got a canvas that’s the right orientation for it all and maybe that’ll give that a try.
That’s just really good sound advice for people because things do happen. And so the ability to shift is so important and the ability to get past that. And I like your idea of keeping your creative time sacred.
Mary Beth Harrison (17:56.566)
And sometimes other people don’t understand that. So just have to explain it. Yeah. Have you ever been lost in reading a book and somebody starts talking to you out of the blue? And then all of a sudden you’re just like, wait, start again. What did you say? Because you were in that zone of whatever you’re reading. And the same thing happens with art. And what I find when I’m in the zone, it’s almost like my hand has a life of its own. I’m thinking, and I’m not thinking what will be my next stroke.
or how much lighter should I make that color. I’m just doing it. And the decisions are being made subconsciously. And that’s you want to be.
Well, you’re there. You are totally there. Wow. So what are you doing going forward? Let’s talk about what your next projects are or where you want to go now.
Mary Beth Harrison (18:50.382)
I’ve got an exciting project coming up with another artist, Lisa Zylstra and I are going to teach an introduction to oil painting class in Oakhurst, California, at a gallery. And I have been asked for all the years since I retired, which is five years now, please teach a class, please teach a class, please teach a class. And I’ve been like, I for 35 years, I don’t have a teacher I want to paint. But I feel like I’ve really gotten to the point where
I’m ready to teach again. I’m looking forward to teaching with one. This will be a very basic introductory class and if it goes well, then there’ll probably be more after that. But I do remember what it was like to be desperate for a teacher because you can only get so far by yourself and with YouTube videos and books, I just felt like I have all these questions. I need a person I can bounce them off with. And so I benefited so much from having some good people and
And now I want to give back.
I love your speed painting videos and so it would be great to actually have them for people to actually experience the whole process with you in person.
Those are kind of fun. Yeah. Even I look at those sometimes and say, man, you can be kind of intimidated by a blank canvas. But when you watch those speedpainting videos, you realize how quickly a painting can come together. I can tell you that little path I was telling you about. is what I painted yesterday. And that was in about an hour, maybe an hour and Wow. It’s not done yet, but all the bones are there. And the paint was too wet for me to really…
Mary Beth Harrison (20:30.946)
keep going with it yesterday and I had forgotten my favorite blue. A little bit I want to do to that still. But once you start seeing the steps of a painting in your head, which a teacher can really help you with, it can make all the difference.
All righty. Well, this is time to wrap up our session. Do you have any parting words for everybody out there about creativity, about staying motivated?
I just think creativity comes in so many forms. Maybe you’re a creative gardener or a creative cook or a creative electrician. Whatever your creativity is, feed it and appreciate it and use it to enrich yourself but also the people around you when you share your creativity everybody benefits. Yes.
Thanks for spending time with us, Mary Beth. It was just great to hear your story. And for more information on Mary Beth, please visit marybethparrisonart.com. Hey, thanks for hanging out with us today. You can find new episodes on the first and third Thursday of every month. Please visit our website, painterlylife.com for more information. That’s a wrap. We’ll see you next time.