Steven Friedlander writes about art and artists for Compass. He is an editor, writer, and communications and marketing consultant. He is also an instructor in the School of Journalism and Electronic Media at the University of Tennessee.

Beth Meadows’ paintings subvert expectations, demand your full attention, and invite viewers to ask: Why is this here? What happened over there?

Children's illustrations, fashion magazines and food packaging are among the inspirations for Meadows' art.

Her recent work — probing, symmetrical, ever-stylish acrylic on wood — requires focused investigation. 

In the ironically titled, slightly noir “The Richness of Life,” we ask: Who is the woman, sitting amongst the chaos of her home — and how can she be so seemingly content? In the bright and clever after-pool party rendered in “All Good Things and Their Ramifications”: Is this the Jazz Age of East Egg or West Egg? Is the party over — or just beginning? In “P-I-N-G,” featuring a white ping-pong ball stilled under a red paddle, the blackest of nights outside, we wonder: Game over — or about to start?

One might be tempted to ask similar questions concerning Meadows’ art career; she is a veteran of the Knoxville art scene whose work, nonetheless, is as fresh, vibrant, and lovely as ever.

“For as long as I can remember, I would always ask for art supplies,” says the Memphis-born Meadows from her charming A-frame home 30 minutes south of Knoxville. “I always enjoyed drawing, and, starting in middle school, I decided to take art classes.”

Meadows, the youngest in a family of three daughters, attended a small private Christian high school, and thereafter attended the University of Tennessee as a studio art major.

“I’m grateful I went to art school,” she says, “although the program at UT is very theoretical and conceptual; I wish there had been a little more emphasis on the tangible and practical aspects of craft — and also on running a business as an artist.”

The self-aware and sensitive Meadows was self-motivated as a university student — “I was in my studio all the time,” she says — and was inspired by children’s illustrations and the beauty of fashion magazines. Her vista, however, had changed, and the personal dissonance was tangible; she lacked confidence, in part due to the conflict between her burgeoning artistic life and her early years in Memphis.

“I was making large drippy cartoon paintings on paper, weird textures with charcoal, self-portraits,” she says, “and I was uncomfortable thinking about how my conservative evangelical Christian parents and grandparents might react to the work — even if that discomfort was based on imagined reactions.”

Meadows has remained part of the Knoxville art scene since college; like many artists her entrepreneurial spirit inspired her to hustle through various gigs, working at Flour Head Bakery, as a landscaper, at a photo and print shop — and, today, in addition to painting, as the sole proprietor of The Empathetic Organizer, helping clients “access a simpler, calmer life” through home organization.

Meadows’ early-age influences and ability to offer thoughtful social commentary are strikingly showcased in her extraordinary “Good Packaging” series, where she adorns illustrations of supermodels with food packaging. 

“Saint Laurent” features an onion bag and a Wiseacre Brewery box, Lindt chocolate, cheese, and coffee packaging; “Montcler” uses packaging from canned Rotel tomatoes and Velveeta cheese (two of the ingredients for one of Meadows’ favorite foods: Rotel dip).

“In elementary school there was a class where we learned about propaganda,” she says, “and I learned that companies package products a certain way to get us to buy them — and this made me skeptical. When I started grocery shopping for myself, as an adult, I thought, ‘That’s packaged nicely — and so I shouldn’t buy it.’ Learning about propaganda made food shopping unenjoyable for me for a long time.”

Material found by shopping at Kroger, combined with pages from art and fashion magazines, contribute to the different iterations of the long-running series. 

“I was able to make grocery shopping enjoyable by turning Kroger into an art store — and now I could buy beautifully packaged products again,” she says. “Now, when people see certain food packaging that they like, they think of me. That’s incredible. People saw something beautiful and thought of my artwork.”

Meadows has also exhibited throughout the years in galleries around town, as part of First Friday, and, most recently, at The Maker Exchange. Her work now, 20 years after college, seeks to confront the disconnect between her past and her personal, emotional, physical, and artistic goals — and emerges from a universal question: “Who would I be if I were just myself? How can a goal-oriented person also learn to rest and accept life as it is?

“I am trying to make artwork that answers those questions — and that means creating work that is actually for me and trusting that the work I am creating for me speaks to a larger audience.”

“‘Richness of Life,’ for example, is really about enjoying life; my goal is to communicate that we can enjoy a rich and warm life in spite of the everyday chaos. I want people to be aware of the beauty that surrounds us.”