Artist Beth Wright, freshman art education and art therapy major, sketches out the beginnings of a new art piece in her studio on Tuesday. Wright has been renting Duckwalker Studios, 1107A Commercial St., since her senior year of high school.
Located on the 1100 block of Commercial street is Duckwalker Studios, a small studio space rented by artist Beth Wright, freshman art education and art therapy major. Inside, the walls and desk areas are covered with original pieces created by Wright and her friends. The space is warmly lit by Christmas lights strung around the ceiling and walls.
Wright has been renting the studio for about eight months, with the help of her parents, to use as a space to create and showcase her art.
“We were lucky enough to find this cute little shop that was a good price,” Wright said. “We just made it home.”
Wright runs several Duckwalker social media accounts, including a Youtube channel, an instagram and an Etsy shop, where people can view and purchase her work.
“A Duckwalker is a person that easily switches from one topic to another in a conversation. Also a person that can get off task quickly,” according to the Duckwalker Studios website. “I was given this nickname in sixth grade and it has stuck with me since then.”
She started selling her artwork a few years ago, when friends of her parents’ asked to purchase it.
“When I first started creating art, I had this overwhelming feeling that I was connected to my art and I could not let it go,” Wright said.
Instead of selling the original pieces, she began to scan and make prints of the works. Creating more art helped Wright overcome her apprehension about selling the originals.
“Giving my artwork out to other people and having them able to look at the original copy and see the small details that I love, it would probably mean more to them than just sitting in my studio,” Wright said.
Currently, Wright has sold approximately 30 original pieces, along with her prints and cards. Her artwork has been purchased by people in Emporia as well as by people as far away as California and Minnesota and she has even sold two of her landscapes to a buyer in Denmark.
When she creates her pieces, Wright said that her goal is to make something that people might be confused at the idea of and wonder why anyone would think to paint something like it.
“To have this underlying meaning, where they’re appreciating the art for its looks and then they eventually realize that it has this bigger, deeper meaning,” Wright said.
Wright attributed a lot of her love for art, and the progress she’s made, to her Emporia high school art teacher, Joshua Pavlik.
“If I ever wanted to take his class, he made it happen,” Wright said. “It was really helpful having him there to help push me.”
“You need to find a home, whether it’s theater or journalism, and I think she found her home in the art department,” Pavlik said.
Wright’s ultimate goal is to be an artist and she said that she hopes teaching and art therapy will provide enough stability to follow her dream.
“Art is my passion and it’s basically all I’ve loved doing,” said Wright. “Art is what drives me, it makes me feel happy.”