Fox Tales: Beth Carlson’s Art, Dog & Horse Fine Art, LLC, 2015, hard bound, color, 32 pages, $39.00, available from the publisher
Book Review by Martha Woodham
It’s not often that art lovers get to spend time with an artist to learn about the background of a painting, to discover insights into the thinking behind the work. But a lovely new book by artist Beth Carlson is like a walk through a gallery of her paintings with the Maine artist as your guide.
In Fox Tales: Beth Carlson’s Art, the artist has used her paintbrush to capture her encounters with foxes over the years. Each full-page painting—many in private collections and reproduced in full color on substantial, coated paper stock—is accompanied by a short essay by the artist explaining the history of each artwork.
Heading Home by Beth Carlson
About “Heading Home,” she writes, “The inspiration for this painting was my neighbor’s tree. It sits alone in a large field. I just love the shape of it. Its shape, like many trees in my neck of the woods, is the result of numerous windy days on the coast of Maine. Its beauty really stands out when the field is covered in snow. I have seen many a fox cross the road here as I go by.”
Carlson has long been an observer of wildlife, particularly foxes. As you read her words, you find yourself exploring her paintings, delighting in her witty observations. For example, she paints a fox watching calmly as the Wentworth Hunt (NH) gallops by on a drag hunt. In another scene, three hounds are baying together, like a trio of Christmas carolers, unaware that sly Mr. Reynard is enjoying their songs. A painting of an apple orchard is an excuse for Carlson to depict a fox trotting by with an apple in its mouth. And of course, a book about foxes would not be complete without the portrayal of a quartet of foxhounds lazing in the sun, inspired by a photo by well-known photographer Janet Hitchen.
Known primarily as an animal portraitist, Carlson also paints hunting scenes and seductive landscapes. After twenty years as a nurse, she took up a paintbrush as a full-time artist twelve years ago.
Since then, her career has taken off. A member of Women Artists of the West and Oil Painters of America, she has had her work collected by the Field Trial Museum in Tennessee, the National Bird Dog Museum and the AKC Museum of the Dog. Her paintings also have been featured on magazine covers such as the Chronicle of the Horse. She’s had seven one-woman shows at Dog & Horse Fine Art Gallery, publisher of her book, in Charleston, S.C.
Carlson lives on a farm on the Maine coast with her husband and her dogs. She paints in a studio that was once her horse barn.
Click to learn more about Beth Carlson, her delightful book, and upcoming book-signings.
Posted February 25, 2016