Art, in many forms, has been a constant in my life for as long as I can remember. From drawing stick horses to designing my own paper doll clothes to making my own dolls and designing their clothing.
From an early age I knew I would always create. I've worked in fabric, chalk,water color, oils and clay. My first job experience after graduating from high school, was in the fashion department and then in advertising while employed at the old Meier and Frank store in downtown Portland Oregon.
Actually my place in the art world began when I was placed in an advanced art class in the 4th grade. I always knew the sky went all the way to the ground but learned it appeared lighter as it came nearer to the horizon. What a foundation that class was! In Jr. High, my Mother let me travel to downtown Portland to take Sat. classes at the Museum Art School. Something we wouldn't consider letting our young girls doing alone today! In high school she enrolled me part-time in Portland's Advertising Art School run by the Mechlinburgs. I was the youngest they had ever had. There I learned to draw precisely what I was looking at. Many hours were spent in the live model class of which I had to
have written permission from Mom, if the model was nude.
If Mom hadn't lost her Mother when she was but 11 years old I believe she would have been encouraged to do something in the arts as her Mother was a fine china painter of some renown. However, everything Mom touched through the years had an artistic flair. With these facts in mind you can see why Mom encouraged me to go as far with my art as I could. However, she made me learn how to type so I could always get a real job. Too bad she couldn't teach me to spell
The high school art class attitude of (here's the paper and here's the paint....keep busy and you will get a good grade) was pretty much a waist of time. Learning how to draw ketchup bottles in add school didn't teach me how to be a painter. It wasn't until I moved to Germany with my Air Force husband that I began to fill a dream to "paint" paintings. I was fortunate enough to join a small art class given once a week by Heir Hershfield, a well known conservator of museum paintings. I spent a couple of years studying how the Old Masters painted. Starting with a pencil or chalk layout so when I finally began to paint I knew where I was going. We worked in water color until Heir Hershfield thought we had learned enough to graduate to oils. Unfortunately my background in advertising art made me feel my work was more illustration than "painting". Someone once told me if I took my glasses off and then painted what I saw without them maybe I could loosen up and produce more painterly pieces. Should try this someday!
After I retired I wanted to move east of the Rockies to be nearer to my Grandchildren. It was either Minn. (too cold) or Texas (too hot), I made the choice to move to Texas and come home to Oregon, staying with my Mother, during the hot Texas summers. During the years I lived there I augmented my income with painting. Once my neighbors found out I could do portraits of people and animals, I had more work than hours for. In between commissions I was painting and selling water colors and oils online and in local galleries.
In many ways this was a blessing for both of us. There was no room in her house to continue painting so I gladly put my paints and canvases away. Mom would sit in her chair and I in mine and I started making clay dolls. My Texas attempts at doll making were out of cloth and didn't really please me. So I turned to clay and my first two were representative of Mom and me. About that time my sister and I took a doll making class from Jack Johnston in Salt Lake City, Utah. During one other class on costuming the dolls I picked up my first bead. O'my, off in another direction.
Beading has satisfied a tremendous yearning to create. I'm self taught through books, tutorials on the internet and You Tube. I like to create my own ideas but still like to try something new and challenging. I give credit to all the bead designers from the past and present for developing Technics I would never have thought of. Each adventure into a different way of beading has been a jump in my learning curve.
Last Christmas I got the bug to make fancy beaded swags to cover Christmas tree balls. I made one for every member of the family. They were a big hit and started me in another direction. My own Christmas tree lacked an angel on top and shopping the stores in the neighborhood didn't turn up anything I had in mind. There were a few online that were put together with mass produced china heads and hands but nicely dressed. It was too late in the season to get something for the top of the tree but guess how the new year started for me! Yes, I've spent the year making tree topper angels and also some little flying fairies. My Etsy shop is going to have a new line to go along with the beaded jewelry!
Speaking of my Etsy shop I guess I should include some information here. My children have benefited, or not as the case may be, as I worked through all the pieces of jewelry that I've made over the past few years. The shop came about to find homes for some of my work. I've sold a few pieces but the tide has shifted towards metal and more modern eclectic pieces. Hopefully my Christmas items will help my sales. The name of my shop is The House of Tiswan. You can locate it by following the link....www.etsy.com/shop/HouseofTiswan
You might ask what my shop name means or where it came from. Actually it was my kennel name when I was raising and showing Shih Tzu dogs. My first Champion was Tiswan Elduette. What a name for a dog! So actually it means "this one will do it". And she did, my first champion and so my kennel had a name as does my Etsy shop. You might also ask who BCsharp is. A lot of my art work was signed that way. There is a story behind this but I won't go into it now.
Without the loving support of my family I would never have delved into computer sales. And this year I joined The Three Rivers Art Guild. You can locate it on Face Book as well as their own web site. You can find me, Beverly Reinhart, on Facebook and a page for the House of Tiswan there also.
Speaking of my lovely family I must include a bit about my girls and grandchildren. I wish they lived nearby but sadly they have grown roots east of the mountains. I have a wonderful Grandson who does live close and a great Sister just about 2 miles from me. I will let photos of the family speak for themselves. So many to choose from but here are a few.
