Terrece Beesley

"My brother says that I paint because I throw like a girl and I had no future in the major leagues. But I think I paint because there is still a small child inside me saying, 'Look what I can do.'"

Terrece Beesley is fascinated by scenes we are familiar with and most often ignore, the icons of our daily life. The objects in her paintings speak volumes about our culture. The still life paintings are messy tabletops where fruit, flowers, and crystal coexist with comic strips, postcards, and popsicles. Terrece uses watercolors to show the ordinary and extraordinary things in life in a new light.

Beesley's paintings reveal very few flat washes. She prefers to mix colors on the paper and use spontaneous brushstrokes to give her paintings rhythm and energy, often using the entire side of her brush to push color across the paper. These brushstrokes add a loose quality to what would otherwise be extremely realistic paintings.

Beesley earned a B.F.A. in painting and textile design from Utah State University. A successful career followed in product design, publishing, and computer animation. Since 2000 she has concentrated on watercolor paintings while working with the Utah Arts Council's Artist in Residence program, and giving watercolor seminars to high school and elementary students at Weber State University.