Rising strongly from the ranks of the Photoshop Artistry course, Beverly Everson truly came into her own with AWAKE and became the featured artist of Issue No. 13 of Living the Photo Artistic Life. Often derived from the most unexpected images, Beverly’s work is always a surprise and a delight …
Q: What does living the photo artistic life mean to you?
Beverly: Art has always been part of my life. As a child I liked to draw and began painting lessons in my teens. I went on to get a degree in art but then didn’t do anything with it. Over the years I painted some but really did not feel inspired. Ten years ago digital cameras became cheap enough for me to buy one before a trip to Colorado. It was a point and shoot Canon and to get ready for the trip I knew I should learn how to use the camera. I ended up taking 3,000 pictures in less than a month and was already frustrated at the limitations that the camera placed on my aspirations. I soon bought a used Canon 20D and then it went from there. Photography, and my obsession with it, came into my life at the perfect time. It really was a gift from God. Photoshop Artistry also arrived at just the perfect time, and then came AWAKE! Those two courses have added immeasurably to my enjoyment and expanding knowledge of digital art and inspiration.
All along, with photography, just a ray of light or a color would inspire me. I learned to see details in a split second where most people never even looked. I don’t know if that is true with all photographers but it is true for me. Those things still catch my eye and inspire me but my inspiration has taken another turn onto a different road. This photo artistic work has made life so much richer!
Q: How would you say you approach your work?
Beverly: In my life as a painter I was always a realist. Photoshop Artistry and AWAKE have opened my mind to much more appreciation and enjoyment of other types of art. I’ve been told by someone very close to me that I’m not creative. Well, I’m doing all I can do to prove that person wrong. I don’t know where creativity comes from but the more you create, the more you create! That’s profound, right? Since I feature my photography on my website, I only use my own photos so my creations begin there. Before PA and AWAKE I used to go out almost every day and shoot. I began with flowers, moved to wildlife and people and then into architecture. There’s not much time for that now! I must have hundreds of thousands of images on hard drives from the past ten years so I’m mostly using those.
I especially like to combine things that don’t really go together. For some reason that appeals to me and often works well. I’m in the Mobile Art Mastery class as well, and that’s been very inspirational. The apps for iPads are unlike anything I’ve seen before and they’ve really gotten my creativity going! I try to create every day but some days are more productive than others. Some days I’m “in the zone” and some days I’m not, but you can’t wait to feel inspired. I sometimes listen to a movie or music while I work. I’m blessed in having a lot of time to create but I seem to work best at night. I may go a couple of days without any keepers but then have several in a row. As time goes on I’m finding I spend more and more time on each piece. Yet I post something new every single day on my website, so the pressure is on to get it done!
Q: What are the most important things you’ve learned in your journey?
Beverly: The world is beautiful. There are so many things most people never, ever see because they don’t look. Appreciate the details as well as the larger picture. Capture a scene when you see it. It will never be repeated in that exact detail with that same light. Create because you love to create. Don’t worry about what other people think. (I’m still working on that one.) And never stop learning.