Bethanee Mabee and Shannon Woodford

September 5: First Friday and Artist Reception 6:00 - 8:00pm

Bethanee Mabee (Peoria, I.L.) is an abstract painter who explores the truest versions of herself in her artistic practice and hopes that doing so will spark a connection for her viewers. Mabee is fascinated by the ever-changing nature of being human and amazed by the layers we have, the pasts that have conditioned us, and the cyclical lenses that we see ourselves and the world through. It excites her to find parallels in her painting process that reveal themselves, layer by layer, with so many opportunities for happy mistakes, surprise reactions, or, in some cases, wrong turns to recover from. Mabee enjoys the improvisational roller-coaster of abstract painting and finds that it has strengthened her ability to make choices that are guided by intuition. 

Shannon Woodford (Waxhaw, N.C.) honed her skill as a painter creating trompe l’oeil and other faux finishes for interior designers. She eventually realized that her true pleasure would be found in painting and began creating multilayered, expressionistic and impactful snapshots of nature. Shannon works largely in florals, using the deceptively everyday nature of her subject matter to explore the hidden depths in their unexpected appeal. She likes exploring as many mediums as possible and has worked extensively with watercolors, acrylics, and encaustics. Her current focus is in oil paint and mixed-media on canvas. Shannon loves to stretch her artistic capabilities with the use of a bold color-story, the striking natural juxtaposition of foliage, and lush multi-textured layers.