Artist Statement for Beth Francell, by her husband, Larry Francell:
Beth Francell was raised in Midland, but often spent the summers with her Grandmother in Fort Davis, where her Grandfather ranched in the Sierra Viejas near Valentine. Beth demonstrated artistic talent as a teenager but was discouraged from pursuing art for a more promising career. Graduating with highest honors in history and political science from the University of Texas at Austin, Beth taught schools and did historic marker research as a founding member of the Wichita County Heritage Society.
With a move to Dallas in 1981, Beth was the founding Director of the Farrell-Wilson Farmstead Museum in Plano. Renovating and revitalizing the five-acre farm, one of the tasks was to recreate the historic landscape. Learning the joy of gardening from her Grandmother, Beth was able to bring the farm back to life. The project stimulated her to apply to the School of Landscape Architecture at UT-Arlington.
In 1997 we purchased Beth’s grandparent’s home in Fort Davis and she began her career in landscape design. Not enjoying the lack of creativity in the cookie-cutter design used in CAD, Beth shoes to hand draw her designs, turning each into its own work of art.
Retiring in 2005 Beth returned to art, using pastels as her medium of choice, which combines her passion of digging in her garden and working with the earth-like pigments.
Beth is much too modest and reserved to write such an artist’s statement, so as her greatest fan, I took it upon myself. – Larry Francell
