Old becomes new: Artist revisits older works, finding new spark

The time is never wrong to try something new.

Bev Mathis has been painting for years. Her work has been featured in countless exhibitions, shows and other events. She has painted everything from desert landscapes to portraits of her grandchildren to vivid florals.

What would happen if she returned to some of those works again, only with fresh perspective?

“I’m approaching my subject matter that I painted before in a different way,” she said. “If I’m doing flowers, what can I do differently this time, to give it a different look to it or emphasize something else?

“It’s the same old thing, but done in a new way.”

Revisiting those older works has been eye-opening for Mathis. She’s discovered new color schemes, new focuses and new flair, jazzing up pieces that she had long forgotten.

She’ll be showcasing some of those works throughout the month of September at the Southside Art League — everything from abstracts to still-life paintings to landscapes.

“I just hope they smile and enjoy it,” she said. “Maybe it touches a memory for them, something that grabs at their emotions from the past and they can identify with.”

As a student at Otis E. Brown School 20 in Indianapolis, Mathis was inspired to be creative by her own art teacher. She earned a scholarship to Herron School of Art, finished her degree and planned to go into teaching art herself. After five years at Keystone Middle School in Indianapolis, she opted to raise her family, dabbling in oil painting, crafts and other art when she could.

But her artistic endeavor truly took off on her 40th birthday. She decided she wanted to learn how to use watercolor.

At the time, artist David Tipton was the watercolor instructor at the Southside Art League. So Mathis signed up for his course, learning the technique and potential that the medium offered. At countless workshops and demonstrations, she’s continued her education.

Water media is her passion because of its clean luminous colors, versatility, and also its unpredictability, she said. She likes the challenge of painting a wide variety of subjects and styles, from abstracts to photo realism, and everything in between.

Mathis is a member of the Southside Art League, a Cardinal Fellow of the Watercolor Society of Indiana, the Indiana Artists Club, and the Brown County Art Gallery Artists Association.

She has won awards in those organizations’ exhibits, as well as at the Indiana State Fair, SALI National Abstract Art Exhibitions, RAM, the Hoosier Salon, Will Vater Exhibitions, Brown County Art Gallery, Brown County Art Guild, Johnson County Fair, and the Greater Greenwood Art Council Art for the Ages Exhibit.

She considers the three People’s Choice awards she has won in competition as her most precious awards, though.

In addition to the revamped works Mathis has been working on, she also has been attempting more portraits. Though her style and skill is still developing on those, she appreciates the challenge of trying something different.

“That has been a big hurdle for me — to get myself to be confident enough to tackle that,” she said. “People, I think, are the hardest thing to paint, to get a good likeness and capture the personality.”

The Southside Art League exhibition is now showing at the organization’s Off Broadway Gallery, where it will be through Sept. 28. Mathis will host a reception from 3 to 5 p.m. Sept. 14.

With such a variety of works on display, she hopes that everyone who comes to see the shows finds something that strikes them — even if each person connects with something unique.

“There’s usually something in the show that everyone thinks is really special for them. It’s different for each person,” Mathis said.

IF YOU GO

Beverly Mathis exhibition

When: Through Sept. 28

Where: Southside Art League Off Broadway Gallery, 299 E. Broadway St., Greenwood

Hours: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday

Reception: Mathis will share information about her art from 3 to 5 p.m. Sept. 14 at the gallery. Light refreshments will be served.

Information: southsideartleague.org