“Pull Up a Chair” - Artist: Beth Bynum, Phi Chapter, Michigan

As part of the Delta Kappa Gamma Arts Jury, I am able to see, read and experience beautiful and creative works of art from members around the globe. One piece in particular which captured my eye this past fall, was Beth Bynum’s, “Pull Up a Chair”.  

Beth is a member of not only Delta Kappa Gamma Phi chapter in Michigan, but also the International Society of Experimental Artists. She is an incredibly talented artist. I am happy to share her art journey!

After teaching with the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Teec Nos Pos, Arizona on the Navajo Reservation, and at Buckley Community Schools, with art-on-a-cart, Beth now teaches adult art classes and works with regional art centers.  Some of her own pieces are in St. Albert, Alberta, Canada, as well as at the Sanctuary Goods gallery in Traverse City, MI, the Crooked Tree Art Center in Petoskey, MI, as well at the Oliver Art Center in Frankfort, MI. 

As a child who grew up on a farm in Kingsley, Michigan, Beth relays that her art reflects her joy of learning. By using recycled materials, she crafts pieces by the beauty of the ordinary. Her work is experimental, and after starting a piece, she finds thrill in the process, as she never knows where the art piece will go. Mediums that Beth enjoys using include collage with acrylic paint, old photos, funky found objects and more. She explains that a piece of rust, a chunk of cardboard or an old ledger may call to her. She loves to mix media, stamp, tear layers, scribble, cover up, add to and fully experiment with new techniques. She started to save her art when she was 10 years old and recalls the first piece she showed in an art show was called “Crow Girl’s Journey to Shanghai”. This 2011 piece is a mixed media collage on a book cover which features her favorite bird, a crow, of course!

After twenty previous abstract canvases, she started on “Pull Up A Chair”, which you can find in the Delta Kappa Gamma Art Gallery. This canvas piece measures 30” x 30”, and includes a chair and an animal which she loves most, the crow.   Beth shares that “To 'pull up a chair', in my experience, is a friendly invitation meaning, 'come join us, you’re welcome, come share a meal or a conversation, relax, enjoy the moment.'  If you notice, the crow has some blue wings.  They signify diversity.  Everyone’s welcome.” “Pull Up a Chair” was created with painted paper, colored tissue, stenciling and masks. Once she adds paper and paint, she tweaks areas, adding or subtracting, until the art is pleasing to her. 

As an advocate for art education, she mentions the vital need for it and art’s positive outcomes. Some of these outcomes in schools include the development of motor, language and social skills, decision making, risk-taking and skills for invention. Beth also knows and shares that art education helps humanity understand cultures and heritage, as it is a “reflection of humanity.”

With thanks for the DKG Art Gallery, Beth's message is: “I am grateful for the opportunity to show my work.  I think it is wonderful for DKG to highlight the arts.  I encourage other members to show their talents.”

The best artist advice she has been given comes from author, Joseph Chilton Pearce, on a sign in her studio: “To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong”.

Thank you, Beth Bynum, for inspiring others to live creative lives!