Meet Artist Bess Auer
“An art curator once told me my work was little more than crafting. If that’s the case, I proudly bring the fine art of high craft to the table. I believe shape and balance and color can be combined to surprise and delight the onlooker. And by transforming simple gourds into complex yet whimsical clay characters, I create meaningful conversations about the world around us.”
A digital strategist by day, Bess sought to find a better work-life balance through her artwork, especially during the pandemic. With the encouragement from Arizona muralist and Smithsonian artist Eleanor Kohloss and award-winning Florida artist Marianna Hamilton Ross, Bess has used her art to connect her love of nature with her community-building.
And as for the curator from above, who told Bess her art was no more than crafting, Eleanor assured her, “There are as many kinds of art as there are people making art, and ‘craft’ is highly regarded now!”
Working out of a home studio, lovingly dubbed Running Fish Fine Art, located in her Central Florida home, Bess is surrounded by bamboo, palms, and other types of foliage. It’s natural that Bess looks to the nature that she loves so much for inspiration. She found her calling with gourd art, one of the oldest art forms on the planet.
Using the gourd as an armature for her clay challenges Bess to define shape and form differently. It is like piecing together a puzzle, and she relishes transforming the gourd into something that surprises the onlooker and sparks new conversations.
Bess often teams with Second Harvest Food Bank for gallery exhibits to use her art bring attention to the community and those who might currently be experiencing hunger.
Bess feels fortunate to be able to use both her art and her expertise as a marketer to benefit others.