We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amara Bedford. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amara below.
Amara, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.
My parents believe in the importance of the arts, which has had a positive impact on how I view myself as an artist. Both of my parents have been highly supportive of my educational journey. Dad was a chemistry professor and then Dean of Bryn Athyn College in Pennsylvania where I earned an A.A. in Biology and then a B.A. in Psychology. With much studying and discipline, I was able to get on the Dean’s List a handful of times, always wanting to make my dad proud. During the summer of 2014 after I graduated from college my parents and sister helped me move from our hometown in Pennsylvania to New Mexico to study art therapy in a graduate program at Southwestern College. Dad created a comprehensive itinerary of all the stops along the way, making lodge and camping reservations, thus turning this big move into a grand family vacation. Between my parents’ Honda CRV and my Honda Accord, we were able to transport my worldly possessions along with camping gear and everyone’s suitcases halfway across the country. In general, Dad has always been very helpful with the logistical aspects of life, such as budgeting, planning, creating itineraries, navigating FAFSA, etc. Both of my parents were highly supportive of me studying Art Therapy at Southwestern College in Santa Fe, NM where I earned an M.A. in Art Therapy/Counseling in 2017.
My mom has infused me with a sense of comfortability with the arts and has always been just a phone call away during those years that I lived many miles from home. Mom has been a professional oil and acrylic painter my whole life and much of what I know about painting comes from her. She was pregnant with me when she was studying at Tyler School of Art. She framed a painting I created at the age of 2 which I still have in my art studio as a reminder of how much she has believed in me as an artist. These days, Mom and I get together to paint plein air beside the lake up here in Bemidji, Minnesota. One of my favorite pieces of advice from Mom about painting is to only work with colors that you really love.
My family tree is laden with artists. Mom’s mom was a talented artist, as was my maternal great-grandmother. My paternal grandmother was a talented artist. Grandma had an eye for nature and animals and would give me helpful advice on how to make my paintings look more realistic. Grandma’s parents were both professional artists who immigrated to America from Germany and ran their own art business in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania. My paternal great-grandmother, Margarete Bohne Kenner, whose father was a professional artist, attended the Munich School of Art and was in the first cohort that accepted women into this prestigious program in 1920. My paternal great-grandfather, George Kenner, made over one hundred paintings and drawings during WWI while interned as a German civilian internee in Great Britain and the Isle of Man. His artwork has been donated to four UK museums and has been cited in several books related to WWI in order to facilitate the recording of history for all to see. The Surrey Heath Museum beautifully reframed and restored several paintings by Kenner which were on display at the visitor center in Knockaloe on the Isle of Man. You can also find more information about my great-grandfather’s artwork by viewing a blog titled “Looking back: art at Alexandra Palace” by Ally Polly on the website https://www.alexandrapalace.com and by looking up George Kenner on Wikipedia.
Amara, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am an acrylic painter. When I paint, I predominantly focus on the beauty of nature, though I also enjoy painting portraits of my cats and two golden retrievers, and occasionally portraits of people. My favorite scene to paint is the lake I live near where I paint plein air, oftentimes with my mom. I am drawn to the ever-changing surface of the water with its reflection of the trees, sky, sun and clouds. Many of my summer lake scenes incorporate the sparkles on the water. I love watching the loon and swan families as I paint. Loons are particularly special to me because they make me think of family memories at an old cabin built by my great-grandparents in Wisconsin. My paintings pick up on the patterns of nature. During the winter, I tend to paint scenes of snow-covered birch and pine trees outside my window. My paintings tell the stories of the expressive forms of trees. I also paint vibrantly colored abstract art, though that style is quite different from my plein air paintings.
In 2020 I created a hands-on art experience which I called Smash Art. The main goal of Smash Art is to provide a cathartic, healing, creative experience to individuals. I created Smash Art as a way for people to release emotions in a hands-on workshop that combines elements of art, art therapy and physical
education. Smash Art provides a safe space that encourages the creative expression of the raw
energy and emotions that are not always accepted under ordinary circumstances.
The primary goal of these Smash Art sessions is to allow participants to express their emotions
freely in a safe environment. Smash Art combines movement and fun to release emotions and
energy that might otherwise be stuck and not given a space to arise or be fully expressed.
Participants build their confidence by moving and working through any emotion that they might
feel, including difficult ones. They can express themselves freely and still be accepted, even
celebrated!
By moving and working with color, participants can explore their creative spirit, and experience it as
an integral part of who they are.
A secondary goal of Smash Art is to create an artistic opportunity for a wide range of people, including people who do not think they can create a painting. We all have
creativity and self-expression within us though we might show it differently.
Smash Art is a unique, multisensory experience that combines music, vibrant color, and
physical movement in a safe environment that inspires participants to tap into their energy and
emotions freely and without judgment. The cathartic process will facilitate the release of a wide
range of emotions, while building each individual’s confidence, self-worth and capacity for
creative expression. You can hear more about Smash Art in an interview that was aired on the radio by following this website: https://www.kaxe.org/show/91-7-kaxe-90-5-kbxe-morning-show/2022-02-04/smash-art-of-
bemidji-boxing-paint-stress-relief-and-tapping-into-self .
In the four years since starting Smash Art, I have facilitated Smash Art sessions in two different gym spaces in Bemidji which were advertised to the general public which drew participants of all ages. I have also faciltated Smash Art for Scouting America, and for the Girl Scouts, as well as for college students at Bemidi State University, and for children at the Boys and Girls Club of Bemidji.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is being able to slow down and witness the beauty and peace of observing a person, place of thing that visually pleases me and then being able to share that with others. I enjoy hearing from people about what they see in my art. Selling my art to appreciative buyers is deeply rewarding.
It is also rewarding to see how the experience of Smash Art opens people up creatively. I love being able to share the feeling of making art with other people.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
The main mission driving my creative journey is to access and share a feeling of peace that can be attained through creating art.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.alignable.com/bemidji-mn/artwork-by-amara-bedford?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR2LV-KPktm_vFmQEvvmxlZfJWEYkbNZQeG60gyj3hDWtm2wvF2o_RBaDZo_aem_NPHhugtXZGA6VNyG7WXD4Q
- Instagram: @SMASH_ART_OF_BEMIDJI
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amaragracebedford and https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100075528563909
- Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/amara-bedford-39172482
Image Credits
Amara Bedford, Monika Lawrence, Molly Miller, Ally Straus