Beth Coleman
Beth Coleman grew up in a home where art was not just valued but lived. With her mother working as an art teacher, the family home always included a studio—what Beth considered the ultimate playroom. That early environment, combined with her education at Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School, set her firmly on the path of a creative life. A pivotal moment came when her mother took an online painting course with Flora Bowley, whose practice emphasized energy, joy, and release through making. Even as a child, Beth was deeply inspired, and Bowley’s influence continues to shape her practice today.
In May 2025, Coleman earned her BFA in Printmaking and Book Arts from the University of Georgia, where she discovered the discipline and possibilities of print. The process of planning, layering, and producing multiples transformed her approach to artmaking. She began repurposing discards and excess prints through collage, experimenting with papermaking, pulp painting, and installation work. Printmaking, with its cycles of excess and reuse, became a metaphor for her own explorations of growth and transformation.
Coleman’s work often combines collage, oils, acrylics, papers, and mixed printmaking techniques—screen print with relief is a favorite pairing. Her imagery weaves natural elements with non-objective structures, exploring recurring themes of growth, change, and the cycles of life and death. “What has to die to make room for new life?” she asks through series such as Fragments of Growth, where discarded materials become reborn as textured panels and collaged surfaces.
Her creative process is intuitive and flexible. A walk in the woods often fuels new work, as does her fascination with abandoned spaces where nature slowly reclaims human structures. Inspiration is cyclical—when she feels stuck, she leaves the studio to “go live life” and returns renewed.
Community has also been central to her development. At UGA, being surrounded by fellow artists, serving as a TA, and studying under mentors like Jon Swindler pushed her practice forward. Now based in Philadelphia, she is exploring her new environment—the architecture, history, and textures of the Rust Belt—as sources of inspiration for her latest series.
Coleman measures success not by sales or trends but by how much she learns with each project. Her goal is simple but powerful: to keep making, keep learning, and keep sharing knowledge. To aspiring artists, she offers this advice: “The marks you make are important. Don’t worry about the final product—focus on the act of making. That’s where the growth, healing, and surprise live.”
