why I paint:
What connects humans? Observing life together. Discussing it. With the language of painting I can share my experience with fellow beings.
Having lived so many places as a child, I’ve become sensitized to the way a place feels. City streets to wild lands, close interiors to industrial work yards—all affect our awareness. I hope to invite others to connect and discover these.
Whatever the subject, places where natural creations come up to human ones interest me most. A tree near a road, a bird next to a water glass: human intrudes on the wild things, nature arches over.
My heroes were Abstract Expressionists when I first started. I love strong marks, and the idea that one stroke suggests the next. Now I connect this process to a story of familiar things. I still paint the entire painting at once; when the rhythm satisfies, I stop. Paintings that teeter between abstract and representative keep things moving.
Exhibition History
Solo Shows
By the Water 2023
Berkeley Yacht Club, Berkeley
Marking Home Ground, 2022
Stanislaus State University, Turlock CA
Landscapes
M Lowe & Co Jewelers, Berkeley, 2021–
Betsy Kendall Landscapes
Shoh Fine Arts, Berkeley 2019
Wild Here, Local Landscapes 2019
Albany Community Center, Albany CA
Betsy Kendall: Collaborations with the Muse
B Sakata Garo, Sacramento, 2018
Betsy Kendall: Landscape/Studio
Stanford Art Spaces 2014
Betsy Kendall: Local Landscapes 2012
Albany Community Center Foyer
Nearby Wild, Landscape show 2011
Montclair Gallery, Oakland
Tree Spirit: Betsy Kendall Landscapes, David Turner Sculpture 2008
Alta Bates Community Gallery
Group Shows
DeYoung Open 2023
DeYoung Museum, San Francisco
Unique Perspectives 2023-4
Ruby Living Design, Mill Valley
Fresh Works, Juried Show, 2023
Firehouse Art Center, Pleasanton
Summerscape, 2022
SHoH Fine Arts, Berkeley
Red, Juried online Exhibit, 2022
O’Hanlon Center, Mill Valley
Face to Face, National Juried show 2022
ARC Gallery San Francisco
Human Faces & Figures (Online Exhibition) 2022
Las Laguna Art Gallery
SHoH Fine Arts, 2021
Fourth Street Berkeley January
Beyond: Group Landscape Show 2020
Shoh Fine Arts, Berkeley
Bird. Nest, Nature 2020
Jurors Jeffrey De Blois, Assistant Curator, ICA Boston
Rebecca Lowery, Assistant Curator, MOCA Los Angeles,
Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek
Three Local landscape painters 2019
North Berkeley Investment Partners, Berkeley
Ruby LivingDesign 2019
Small Works Juried Show 2018
juror Phil Linhares
Richmond Art Center
Bay Area Life May 2018
juror Emma Acker
Valley Art Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA
Road Trip April 2018
Shoh Arts Gallery, Berkeley CA
Sightings on Land, October 2017
Mythos Fine Art, Berkeley CA
Figures Within and Without 2015
Mythos Fine Art @ Firehouse Gallery North
Berkeley CA
Faculty Show 2015–17
Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA
Into the Wild: Celebrating Western Wilderness 2015
Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel, CA
Retold Tales: Collage and Assemblage 2014
Mythos Fine Art @ Firehouse North Gallery
Au Naturel, The Nude in the 21st Century (juried show) 2014
Clatsop Communtiy College, Astoria, OR
Wilderness 50: Celebrating Western Wilderness 2014
Vallejo Museum
Berkeley Seen, (invitational show) 2013
Firehouse North Gallery, Berkeley
Scapes: (Juried show) 2012
Pacific Art League, Palo Alto
Changing Scene 2012
Valley Art Gallery, Walnut Creek
Featured Artist, October
Artists Honor the Oakland LGBT community 2012
Oakland City Hall (4 artists)
Seeing Solano III: Solano Land Trust through the eyes of artists 2012
Vacaville Museum
Berkeley Civic Arts Commission Selection 2012
Berkeley Civic Center
Au Naturel, The Nude in the 21st Century 2012
third place award
Clatsop Community College, Astoria OR
New Places: Four Painters’ California 2012
Firehouse North Gallery, Berkeley
Seeing Solano: Artists view the Solano Land Trust 2011
Vallejo Historical Museum (Invitational)
2D 3D Figurative Works juried show, second place award 2011
San Joaquin Delta College Center for the Arts, Stockton
Figures & Forms (2-person show) 2010
Nielsen Arts, Berkeley
Go Figure: Working Together from a Model 2008
The Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel
Carpe Diem: Landscapes 2008
Canessa Gallery, San Francisco
Partners in Paint: the Tuesday Drawing Group 2007
Addison Windows Gallery, Berkeley
2004 Valona Pleinair Paint Out 2004
Epperson Gallery, Crockett
Rendering & Articulation: A Drawing Exhibit 2004
The Carl Cherry Center of the Arts, Carmel
The American Landscape: Mountains–Metropolis 2004
Alameda Art Center
Valley Art Gallery 2000–present
Walnut Creek
Group Landscape Show 2000
Sticks Fine Arts, Berkeley
Betsy Kendall & Elizabeth Ennis 1999
Sticks Fine Arts, Berkeley
Betsy Kendall & Carlo Ferretti 1998
Sticks Fine Arts, Berkeley
Plein Air Paintings 1998
Frants Albert Associates, Oakland
The Watershed Landscape 1998
Arts Benicia
Alternate Views of Diablo (three-person Landscape show) 1998
Diablo Valley College
At Miwok Meadows, China Camp State Park, San Rafael, CA