Beth Palmer is a former elementary art teacher for Durham Public Schools. She began taking her own artwork seriously after a breast cancer diagnosis in 2003 and several subsequent near death experiences as a result of her cancer treatments. She has exhibited her work many times since then, and frequently donates work to benefit individuals and organizations.
Themes of her art include the healing power of love, being kind and compassionate, and remembering what truly matters in life…and taking committed actions toward those things. She is also a designer of a line of coffee mugs, hand painted scarves, and cards with the theme of “wonderfulness”. Life just goes better when we treat people with loving kindness.
Beth and her husband, Chuck, have two adult sons and live in Durham, NC.
Beth’s Website: www.bethpalmerstudio.com
What people are saying about Beth Palmer and the impact of her work:
“Beth Palmer is not only a clear-sighted, heart-centered, skilled visual artist, she is also a passionate and inspiring life artist. Rarely do we see the artist as a person so completely embody the message of her artworks in the way she lives, and the way she creates more aliveness for others through personal contact and canvas. She lives those hearts; she speaks those symbols; she IS those vibrant colors. There is no separating the artwork from the artist in the painted worlds of Beth Palmer, so enjoy the dialogue with both, and be happier, healthier and more whole as a result. Her paintings are not just beautiful; she and they together, in contact with you, make the world a better place.”
–Eric Booth, Juilliard faculty, national arts learning consultant, author of The Everyday Work of Art and The Music Teaching Artist’s Bible, and Senior Advisor for El Sistema USA.
“Beth Palmer knows what it means to give of herself. Her artwork is full of heart and plenty of hope and it portrays beautifully the journey that all of us are on. Beth encourages us to love well and live with intention. Seeking more than meets the eye, there seems something almost eternal in all of her heartfelt paintings.”
–Christine Callan, owner of Copa Vida coffee shop, Durham
“When Beth Palmer makes an entrance, she brings with her an aura of peace, beauty, and the unexpected. And when she walks into a room carrying pieces of her work, I am immediately overcome with excited anticipation of what new, unexpected, peaceful beauty she’ll unveil.
Beth is a talented artist with heart who, as a former art teacher, was referred to as the “teacher who gives her heart away”. This statement holds true still today as Beth works not only as an artist but as an active ambassador in the Triangle area’s art and cancer community.
Beth’s art elegantly transcends the adversity she endured (and in some ways continues to endure) during her battle with cancer. She has the ability to translate into soothing, hopeful artistry what for most, is their most terrifying and traumatic life experience. Beth’s artwork is a reflection of her heart and her experiences on the challenging roads she has traveled as a cancer survivor: touched and touching; inspired and inspirational; moved and moving. If you are fortunate enough to stand before her as she hands you one of her items, you will know that she’s genuinely handing over all the warmth, healing and wonderfulness she can pass along.”
–Dana Powers, owner of In the Pink Wigs and Boutique, Durham
“In our soul’s journey we are chosen to touch and be touched by those that have the precise gifts each need to come to awareness. Beth uses art as a healing metaphor. As I sit listening to persons recovering from opiate addiction in my practice of Suboxone therapy, one of her paintings demonstrating radical forgiveness is on the wall to my right. When gratitude comes up in our conversations, I use her painting to demonstrate that whatever form the transformative process may take–addiction, illness, life trauma–ultimately, it’s a choice to not be defined as the pain, but to use the pain as a gateway to a spiritual outlook of gratitude–the antidote to anger and fear, which when recognized and released, allow the beauty of life to manifest and be shared. Artists can not share what they haven’t lived, and my sister Beth can share out of her abundance.”
–Dr. Bob Reeves, Johnson City, TN