By Bonnie Gangelhoff
Atmospheric skies and seas are among the favored subject matter of Virginia-based painter Bethanne Kinsella Cople. On most days, she can be found heading for the Potomac River near her home in Alexandria with her easel in tow. But she also is a regular traveler to scenic western locales, including Carmel, CA; Park City, UT; and Fredericksburg, TX. “I love being outside painting in the elements and being surrounded by beauty,” she says. “When I discovered plein-air painting, I found my true calling.”
Cople admits that her passion for landscape painting sometimes runs to the point of obsession. She has painted in blizzards in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains, on steep cliffs in Monhegan Island, ME, and in strong gale winds along the rugged Northern California coast. Working in extreme weather conditions appeals to the artist because it tests the limits of her abilities and knowledge, she says. And being surrounded by natural wonders renews her spirit, an experience she hopes to convey to viewers in her paintings.
Last year Cople was juried into the Carmel Art Festival, and this year she looks forward to participating in a number of plein-air shows in the West. She is represented by Westbrook Galleries, Carmel, CA; Meyer Gallery, Park City, UT; Principle Gallery, Alexandria, VA; South Street Art Gallery, Easton, MD; Carmen’s Gallery, Solomons Island, MD; and William Ris Gallery, Stone Harbor, NJ.
Featured in “Artists to Watch” February 2006