The Most Stylish 80-Year-Old You’ve Ever Met
Beverly Erdreich has never been one to color inside the lines. This unconventional (and impeccably dressed) Southern artist dishes about a career in abstract art and why she's always done things her own way. You have GOT to meet this FACE of Birmingham!
The moment Beverly Erdreich answered my first phone call, I was enveloped by her Southern drawl, calm and deliberate demeanor, and a feeling of wanting to write down every single thing she said. She has a way of making you feel like youβre the only person in the world when sheβs speaking with you. Beverly has never been one for following conventions. She poured herself into art from a young age and continued to create on her own terms throughout her life, instilling in her own children a sense of curiosity and profound appreciation for visual expression. During school, Beverly fell in love with a guy from Birmingham, married him in 1961, and moved there to start a life and career. Birmingham at that time was not exactly a burgeoning art incubator for young creatives, but Beverly learned from every nook and cranny of life, and she has a lot to show for it β through her pieces hanging in galleries and museums nationwide, her family and their own creative pursuits, and her sharp, witty spirit. At the end of our nearly 80-minute conversation, I left bursting with excitement to introduce everyone to our newest FACE of Birmingham, Beverly Erdreich.
Did you always want to be an artist?
I have always made art. It may not have been art when I was really young, but I was always creating things. Thereβs the artist child in every class. Valentineβs Day boxes, school bulletin boards, the newspaper, homecoming floats, dance decorations β¦ I was always in charge of all of that. I was always putting things together β¦ construction paper, twigs, and other things outside. I taught myself how to have an idea and then how to execute it.
When I was about 14 and still living in Dothan, there was one notable artist named Frances Watson. I took classes with her for about a year. Then I continued my art education at Newcomb College β part of Tulane in New Orleans. I was an art history major, not an art major. When I graduated and moved to Birmingham in the β60s, only one studio offered classes, The Little House on Linden. Then the museum started offering them eventually. I stayed in class for a long time, mainly because I didnβt have a studio space of my own at that time. I feared that if I ever left art, I would get distracted and never go back. I met so many people, so many artists, and I found myself in many wonderful situations. My first show was in 1969 at the art gallery where I had been taking lessons.
What did you start to paint?
My early work was representational and figurative imagery work. A lot of landscapes, still lifes, drawings of dancers. It was all over the charts, and I was experimenting and learning. I didnβt really know the direction I wanted to go at that point. I was influenced by artists I admired and learned about in school. It wasnβt until later that I started painting abstract. The great bulk of my work has been abstract.
Where do you glean inspiration for a new project or collection?
When working abstractly, I donβt like to start from something. I donβt like to look at photography or a landscape or an object. I donβt want a jumping-off point. I like to figure it out as I go, and thatβs what excites me about painting abstractly. If I go off of an interesting photograph, as soon as I get it on the canvas, Iβm bored with it. I feel like I am reproducing it. I like to work intuitively and start with a line or a color or a shape. Once I have one thing on the canvas, I have created a problem that I have to resolve. What am I going to do with this, and where is it going to go?
I donβt care what it is β I couldnβt spill a paint bucket on it. Thatβs why I have never liked commissions. Because the person always has an image in mind. I really donβt know what the end product will be and I donβt want to know β I want to discover and uncover it as I go along.
Have you ever painted any portraits for family or friends? Iβm sure they ask you!
When my daughter was about 4 years old, I wanted to do her portrait. I told her she couldnβt look at it, and that she had to sit still. During one break, my daughter peeked at the painting and said, βMommy, I think for your age, youβre doing pretty well!β Portrait painting is fraught with a lot of problems. Everyone has their own image of themselves. And then the portrait painter is pitted against all the people who will see the painting β their family members and friends, they all have their own ideas of what someone looks like β correct or not.
When you married and started a family, did that alter the path your art career would take?
Well, it limited the amount of time I spent making art when I was a young bride and mother. My kids never resented the time I spent doing that. Theyβre wonderfully supportive, and my husband and I feel very lucky there because I feel that many female artists donβt have that. They get discouraged without a network of support. Both of my kids are creative in very different ways. My daughter is a corporate art consultant in Boston. Being the daughter of an artist, I think she has a lot of empathy for the creative process. Our son is a film producer in New York City. And I have three granddaughters. When they visit, one of their favorite things is to come into the studio with me and make art. Thatβs been great fun seeing them grow into creative children. What they do with it remains to be seen. (laughing)
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Do you ever feel youβre truly done with a piece?
Yes. I canβt leave things in my studio. If it stays there long enough, I will see a red I donβt like the shade of, and Iβll change the whole thing. If there is nothing I can do more to reconcile the problem I began with and make the painting better, itβs done. Knowing when to stop takes a lot of maturity, I think.
Anything you wish you knew when you started out or had done differently?
I wish I had more information on how to present myself as a professional. My mom would say, βBeverly, you donβt toot your own horn.β Girls were so modest about their accomplishments. When I started out, it was hard for me to tell everyone how wonderful I was and how worthy my art was. I think I sadly lacked in that.
Whatβs a common misconception about art or collecting art that bugs you?
I think the dumbest thing in the world is to buy art for investment. Itβs throwing a dart into the woods. I love collecting art and having a house full of art. Most of my art in my house is other peopleβs because I learn more from othersβ art than I do from my own. I canβt think of anything more depressing than being in an empty room. My mother was the same way β itβs in my DNA β and I passed the mania down to my children. I think people shouldnβt fall into the trap of buying whatβs fashionable. Many of my friends find the art in my house puzzling and insane. I buy it for myself, not for them. My husband and I now forgo anniversary and birthday gifts, and we go buy a piece of art together instead. But weβre running out of wall space.
Whatβs something youβve created that surprises people?
I had never dealt with politics and social problems in my art, but about 10 years ago, I realized there were many things festering in my mind that I felt the need to create. I called them Metaphor Boxes. I transformed cigar boxes. It was a series of 15. It took me many years to complete because it involved a lot of found objects. I felt standing alone they didnβt make the same statement they made collectively.
When I showed those boxes to people, they were shocked. My paintings have been very lyrical and full of color. As an artist, Iβm not sure I knew that side of myself. I had to take a year off after that, and I wrote a childrenβs book. I wrote it for my granddaughters. Itβs a book about accepting diversity. It was a way to get away from that series and also I didnβt know what I wanted to do next.
Itβs common knowledge that you have fabulous style. Tell me a little bit about your wardrobe. Is it another form of art to you?
My mother had a lot of class in the way she dressed. She always looked nice. Back then, women had real pride in the way they looked no matter where they were going. I never wanted to dress or look like everyone else. When something gets fashionable, I start to dislike it. Itβs like an overdose. I like individual things. Iβm attracted to things that could be considered a costume. Sometimes I had to shake my head and say βno.β
I think our best friend is a good mirror, especially as we get older. Sometimes I see someone and wonder if they have a mirror. Iβve always thought it was funny when someone suggests something in a store and says, βThis looks just like you!β No one can be that in sync with your taste. For me, the fun of buying something is going out there and finding it. I like to shop when we travel.
Where can we find you in Birmingham when youβre not painting?
Stanley and I love our local restaurants in Birmingham. We have a neighborhood restaurant called Food Bar, which we love. We frequent Boston and New York. And my favorite place in the whole wide world is Paris.
If you could get drinks with any artist β living or dead β who would be and why?
Louise Bourgeois. I donβt even know if Iβd want to talk. I would just want to listen to her fascinating life. She couldnβt be contained. Back then, artists were typically categorized into one genre. She never fit into one β¦ much like Picasso. She was all over the place if she wanted to be and needed to be.
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Whatβs the best piece of advice youβve received and from whom?
Art-wise, it was from another artist named Jennifer Bartlett. I did a workshop with her in Santa Fe, NM. βIf youβre timid with yourself and with your materials, youβll always be an amateur,β she said. The other piece is from a guy who became a buddy of mine at the gym. Heβs a World War II veteran. He comes to the gym with his walker. He just turned 98, and on his birthday, I heard him say, βYou cannot let the limitations of age restrict you.β I think thatβs just as appropriate for my teenage granddaughters as it is for me. I thought maybe that is the smartest thing I had ever heard anyone say.
Aside from family, friends and faith, name three things you canβt live without?
Art, travel and good food and wine (is that one or two?!)
Thank you, Beverly. All photography was provided unless otherwise noted. See Beverlyβs art online at Canary Gallery, here.
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Zoe Yarborough
Zoe is a StyleBlueprint staff writer, Charlotte native, Washington & Lee graduate, and Nashville transplant of eleven years. She teaches Pilates, helps manage recording artists, and likes to "research" Germantown's food scene.