About Beth Schwartz

Artistic Statement

I am Baltimore-based mixed media artist as well as a retired pathologist, art history nerd, traveler and aficionado of great literature.  These eclectic interests unite into a unique visual voice.  My art incorporates hand cut collage, acrylic paint, altered photographs, clay, beads and whatever odds and ends find their way into my hellaciously messy studio.  What comes out the other end is a dizzying array of boxes, journals, wall pieces, assemblages, cards and prints.

Mixed media gives me an enormous sandbox to play in as each piece evolves. My decisions about materials and process are made in service to a concept or image that intrigues me.  In my paintings, rich visual layers engage the eye and invite the viewer in. Humor is another essential ingredient in my work.

Whether I paint a canvas, collage an upcycled cigar box or build an assemblage, my goal is to create unique art that provokes thought or laughter. If I can delight your eye, mind or funny bone, I’ve done my job. If something I’ve made whispers your name or is the perfect gift for a unique person in your life, I’ve done my job well.

Since my semi-retirement from medicine in 2015, my artwork has been in galleries and craft shows in the Baltimore/DC area, and I have been selling from my website, www.BethSchwartz.Studio.

15% of my sales are donated to Health Care for the Homeless, Inc.* in Baltimore, Maryland. To learn more about this impressive organization, go to https://www.hchmd.org/.  

Member:

• Northern Virginia Handcrafters Guild

• Towson Arts Collective

• Maryland Federation of the Arts

Awards:

• Second Prize for painting, Ellicott City Artists Guild, 2020

• Honorable Mention, Food for Thought, Maryland Federation of the Arts, 2024

Gallery representation: Highlandtown Gallery, Baltimore, MD

Solo show: Highlandtown Gallery, Baltimore November 2022

Group Shows: Y:Art (Bra Show; Superhero Show), Highlandtown Gallery (100 Artists show), Ellicott City (Winter show), Maryland Federation of Art (Street Scenes Show, Eye of the Beholder), Hamilton Arts Collective, Towson Arts Collective, Del Ray Artisans, Strathmore Mansion (Fun and Prism shows). Multiple shows at Maryland Federation of the Arts including Street Scenes, Small Wonders, Off the Wall, Eyes of the Beholder. Multiple shows at Towson Arts collective.

Craft shows: Bazaart, Art on the Avenue Alexandria, McLean Holiday show, Hampdenfest, Locust Point Festival, Cloisters Holiday Show, Greater Goods, Lakefest (Columbia), Out of Hand - and probably some others that I’ve forgotten!

My Story 

I am a proud product of New York City public schools and an unrepentant English major from Princeton with a strong art history background. Sneaking over to the other side of my brain, I graduated from Harvard Medical School and have had a long, fulfilling career as a pathologist (think microscope, not autopsy). I ended up in Baltimore, by a simple twist of fate.

My sketch pad was a fairly constant companion from late college into my early 30s, when “real” life grew too hectic (career, children, house, etc.).   In 2004, I began creating polymer clay jewelry.  Although I mastered many skills, my artistic voice remained mute. Even worse, the perfectionist tendencies of a good pathologist crept in, displacing the joy.  To change the paradigm, I began adding paints, papers and found objects to my repertoire.  I was home.  The ideas flooded in and my voice sang out.

Semi-retirement, beginning in 2015, gave me the time I craved in the studio, but soon I was amassing a vast, impractical collection of my own work. I held my breathe, said a prayer, and launched my art business in 2018. Since then my artwork has been in galleries and craft shows in the Baltimore area, and I have been selling from my website. I also take commissions for paintings, boxes and journals. I am a member of the Hamilton Arts Collective/Hamilton Gallery in Lauraville, Baltimore and of Del Ray Artisans in Alexandria, Va.

My plans for the future? Perhaps I’ll start utilizing my clay skills more in creating mixed media art. Perhaps it’s time to utilize my drawing skills more. Perhaps I’ll start working on a larger scale. Whatever I do, I promise not to color inside the lines.

“…. what a long strange trip it’s been” – Robert Hunter/the Grateful Dead

“…..And you may ask yourself, well/How did I get here?” - Talking Heads

*Health Care for the Homeless and its logo are used with its permission, which in no way constitutes an endorsement, express or implied, of Partner products.