Meet Kathleen Bechtel

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathleen Bechtel.

Hi Kathleen, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story? 
I was fortunate enough to be a full-time artist, but then my life changed. I needed to find a job. I taught children art in schools, I worked at a printing company, and then an old friend, Sister Colleen Ann, approached me because the Franciscan Life Process Center needed an Art Director. I had taught mini-workshops at the Franciscan Life Process Center, and Sister Coleen thought that I may have an idea of who might be a good candidate. As I listened to her vision of what the art program could become, I told her that I would love that job. She was relieved because they had been looking for someone for a while. I started a couple months after our meeting. The goal for me was to grow the program from workshops taught by local teachers and some national teachers to create a workshop destination in the United States at the Franciscan Life Process Center. I had followed these national artists for years, watching videos of them working and reading articles on them and their methods. I was very intimidated at first to approach these wonderful artists. The first person that agreed to come to the Center was Kevin Beilfuss from Chicago. His work is absolutely beautiful. He agreed to come and there was such a loud cheer from the art room after I hung up from talking with him. I had to create a system that would support the workshop program – pricing, housing, contract agreements – so many things I had never done before. Most of it was common sense. I knew that how people felt when they came to the workshops was very important, so hospitality was a big issue. I realized that all of the people – including the teachers – were just people away from home, so I did what I could to help them feel comfortable. I have been doing this for 10 years now, and I absolutely love it. I love it that people treat themselves to a workshop at the Center. I love that teachers ask to come back here – teachers that I read about 10 years ago. I have worked very hard to only invite teachers who bring classical art training and solid teaching to the Center. People know that when they look at my lineup of workshops on our website that they will get their money’s worth and go away with more information than they came with. There was a need for something like the workshop program in Western Michigan. There are rooms to stay in here at the Center, so it made it very appealing for out-of-state attendees. We have had attendees come from almost every state in the United States. We even had someone from Jordan come to one of the workshops. 

I still create art myself. I feel fortunate to be able to sit in on the demos – watching these very gifted, hardworking teachers create beautiful artworks. I am so much richer in my life for the people that I have met who come to the workshops. I keep up on their lives, and they are precious to me. I feel truly blessed. 

At the Franciscan Life Process Center, good things happen – people are healed in so many ways, and in my program, they leave richer in knowledge and dwelling in the beautiful nature around the Center. 

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Covid was hard on my program. In 2020 I had 42 workshops scheduled and ran 6 successfully. Even with the 6 the numbers were low because I could not fly teachers in, and attendees could not fly in. When we started the workshops up again, we followed all the CDC Guidelines and did the best we could. We have come back to the numbers that we experienced in 2019, but it took a while. 

Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I paint landscapes. I also paint portraits and stilllifes, but from the time that I was a child the landscape always was calming to me. My job as an artist is to recreate the feeling that I get when I look at the sky at a particular time of the day or watch clouds race across the sky or when I see the beautiful greens of a field in the morning, or the color of the waves as they slap on the shore. The challenge for me is to recreate that experience for the person looking at my paintings. I paint in oil. Oil is a buttery medium and slides across the panels and canvases in such a lovely way. I am so very moved thinking that people whom I will never meet will see my paintings and interact with me. That is profoundly moving to me. 

In my job as Art Director, I am able to teach people how to create art. It is a pleasure that I did not realize I would be able to experience. To be able to empower a person to express themselves is very fulfilling to me. To watch them be excited about what they create is wonderful. 

Are there any books, apps, podcasts, or blogs that help you do your best?
I am a veracious reader and learner. I cannot point to one book in particular that has changed my life, but rather each moves me ahead. I believed that we were created to thrive when we do what we were meant to do. – when all our abilities come together for one thing. Education moves us toward that end. 

Pricing:

• My paintings – $300-$1500
• The Workshops at the Franciscan Life Process Center – $250 – $750

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kathleenbechtel.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathleen.putnam1