Up Close with Designer Beth Rodewig
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Following a successful advertising career, artist and designer Beth Rodewig of East Greenwich delved deeper into the creative arts by launching a decorative painting business. Her work was published in several decorating magazines and coffee table books, and Rodewig pursued translating her designs to wallcovering, a venture which led her to a new genre of creativity. GoLocalProv spoke to the globetrotting artist about her journey from advertising to the award-winning mastermind behind Becaro Design.
How and when did you develop the idea to hand paint silk scarves?
I thought it would be fun to do designs for wallpaper. I had a rep in New York but nothing ever really developed, so I decided to take matters into my own hands—literally—and put my designs on fabric. I experimented with several different types of fabric, but only silk could get me the design and the bold color I was after. All of my scarves are 100% silk. I've been silk painting for about seven years.
Have you always been artistic?
Yes, I loved art class and always knew I would be an artist, even as a child. After art school, I started off in advertising and design, thinking I would be a designer, then leading to decorative painting then to silk painting. Who knows where I'll go from here? The journey is interesting…
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTWhere does the name "Becaro Design" come from?
My husband gave me the name Becaro before we married. It's the first and second letters of my full name, "Beth Carol Rodewig." He's a clever guy.
Do you reproduce designs, and what inspires you/your designs?
All of my designs are one of a kind. They are each hand designed and hand painted. I repeat the same design, but no two are alike; my hand is different each day. Each scarf goes through six different stages of creation, six different chances to get messed up (or enhanced!), it is always a challenge. It takes about eight hours to produce one scarf, and each one is a work of art and love!
I'm an avid traveler, and I get inspired by nature; finding even the simplest shapes and colors to be so magnificent, rich and beautiful. Each design comes with a story on how I was inspired. For example, the "Six Scenes of Nature" design is based on snippets of nature from New Zealand and the Fiji Islands from the setting sun to the night moon. This design won an award from the Artists' Guild of the Newport Art Museum in Rhode Island. My "Waves" design was inspired by the Cape Cod Bay in Massachusetts, as well as the Cape of Good Hope, in Cape Town, South Africa. I’m fascinated by watching the waves come and go and break and splash and roll in and out…So frightful and so calming.
Becaro Designs are available through the company website, www.becarodesign.com, and at art shows and home parties in and around Rhode Island. The artist plans on unveiling a new line of scarves this year.
Related Articles
- Up Close with Artist Robert Lavoie
- Up Close with Bill Hader
- Made in RI: Jessica Ricci Jewelry
- Twist Jewelry: More Than Just Eye Candy
- Local Jeweler Styles “Burlesque”
- Up Close With Fashion Designer Desiree Doll
