Bethy Williams‘ ink and watercolor work can do one of two things. They can teleport your mind to a galaxy light-years away, where a velvety backdrop of darkness pin-pricked with stars envelopes you with weightlessness. Alien-like creatures with serpentine purple hair gaze at you with glittering Milky-Way eyes. Symbols and encryptions appear like hallucinations, and you wish you could stay forever to unearth the meaning of everything you see. If your feet stay planted on earth, Bethy’s artwork can show you a celestial dreamscape where her artistic inclinations run free, a glance into her creative space.

Bethy’s illustrations conjure up other-worldly feelings of fantasy and imagination no matter who is looking at them. ArtVenue couldn’t wait to ask some questions about the artist and her fantastical artwork.

“…As Orson Welles told Eddie in the movie Ed Wood, ‘Visions are worth fighting for. Why spend your life making someone else’s dreams?’”

Home is where the heart is-where is home for you?
Wilton, New Hampshire. It’s a little town with a population of a few thousand, full of idiosyncrasies, centuries-old ruins and rural New England magic.

How and when did you discover yourself to be an artist?
Making art is just something I’ve done for as long as I’ve been conscious, practically as a biological function. When I was a little kid, probably from the time I was about two years old, my dad would give me pads of paper from his office and I would fill them with drawings from the front to the back, then I would draw on the back, then I would draw on the spine. I would also make picture and story books with stapled-together printer paper. The stories were very strange. A lot of kids draw, but for me it was more than a pastime. I was obsessed and hyper-intense. I was creating a whole world and it was serious business

What are a few things on your artistic bucket list?
Ever since I was a kid I’ve wanted to see my work published in Fortean Times. Seems oddly specific, but seeing that happen would have great personal meaning to me. I also really want to make liner notes for at least one terrific musical release.

Where did you learn the skills and gain the knowledge you, as an artist, posses today?
Years and years of scribbling, sketching, obsessing, and perfecting. My work is definitely not the product of any kind of structured education. I also have to give credit to my mom, though she isn’t an “artiste” in the stereotypical sense, she sews and crafts and taught me how to mix watercolors one rainy day when I was about four.

Your illustrations are delightfully fantastical and have a specific subject/theme. When and how did your interest for “hyperspace faery tales and otherworld portals” begin?
I have that kind of imagery in my head all the time. When I sleep I have extremely vivid dreams and when I’m awake I have extremely vivid daydreams. Just closing my eyes is like watching a movie sometimes. But where does it come from? You know in the cartoons when a character is really happy about something and they get stars and fireworks in their eyes? That’s the only way I can explain it.

What I mean is that it reflects the way I feel about life: that life is full of amazing wonder. I identify my work with faery tales because faery tales say that magic is all around us, and it’s true. When I look at pictures from the Hubble telescope or listen to cicadas singing in harmony on a summer night, I know just how true it is. When I draw my long-haired girls flying between the stars, it’s because I look up at the sky and feel like I could just about do the same thing.

Describe your art with 3 adjectives, a genre and a metaphor.
Adjectives: magical, rapturous, ridiculous.
Genre: fantastic.
Metaphor: a happy sphinx from outer space in an old New England forest.

Your work reminds me of artist Tara McPherson’s celestial pieces. Are there any artists you emulate or that influence your work?
My artistic heroes include Delia Derbyshire, Bryon Gysin, Jean Cocteau, William Blake, H.P. Lovecraft, Walt Disney and Pee-Wee Herman.

What is art to you? What is art for you? Why create it?
That is a mystery I have been trying to unravel my entire life. The funny thing is, it makes sense to me in some deep part of me, and it makes the most sense when I am working and not thinking about it, but when I try to explain it I am at a loss for words.

I guess I could say that there’s something inside of me that seems to have a life of its own and wants to manifest itself in the physical universe through pictures and symbols. I’ve met other artists who have said that’s more or less the way they feel about it as well. Then, in turn, when you make art right, it brings the people who look at it a deep-down satisfaction of a mysterious kind, something that can’t be met by any other means.

You could call it something spiritual (I do), but you don’t have to. However you slice it, the fact is that man has an inner life that is just as important as his outer life. It has always been that way; just look at the Chauvet cave paintings and you will have no doubt about that. It seems to be part of the deal of being human, and whether we can explain it or not we’ll always need the satisfaction that only art can bring.

“When I sleep I have extremely vivid dreams and when I’m awake I have extremely vivid daydreams.”

Who is the long-haired female in your illustrations?
The long-haired females in my work are not all literally the same person but there is a unity of purpose to them. She represents the “spirit” of my work. As I’ve said, my work is alive to me in a funny kind of way, and the long-haired female, with her untamed mane and twinkling eyes, represents the personality of my artistic universe.

Are there any other mediums you would love to explore and experiment with?
I would love to work with film, and I would also love to work with some kind of performance. Maybe something involving an accordion.

“However you slice it, the fact is that man has an inner life that is just as important as his outer life.”

Last exhibition or gallery you visited?
The last exhibition I visited was the Lowell Folk Festival this past August, which featured art in many different media by Lowell artists. The Lowell art scene has a special place in my heart because there is a strong spirit of co-operation, collaboration and fun.

Pick your favorite piece on ArtVenue. What is it of, why is it your favorite and what does it mean to you?
My favorite piece on ArtVenue is “Strange Star Girl”. It’s hard to explain, but when I finished her I had a sense of finally saying something I had always wanted to say and knowing that I said it exactly the right way. When you look at her, you can get a sense of what my entire artistic mission is about. She has become sort of a mascot for my work; she even appears on my business cards.

What is some advice you could give to budding artists, hopeful to make a name for themselves or looking to build a portfolio?
There is nothing in the world more precious than an artist with a genuinely strange artistic vision. If this is you, hold onto that strange vision with all of your might. Protect it, cherish it, nuture it, and never let anyone stop you. Your strange vision is your unique contribution to the universe; what a tragedy, what a crime it would be to let it die and deprive the world of something wonderful and new it has never seen before.

Of course, hard work, dedication and a professional attitude are supremely important as well. But as Orson Welles told Eddie in the movie Ed Wood, “Visions are worth fighting for. Why spend your life making someone else’s dreams?”

View Bethy Williams’ complete ArtVenue profile!

ArtVenue would like to thank Bethy for allowing us some of her time and thoughts. We are excited to have her on ArtVenue – welcome to the family!