Asheville Artist Bethany Pierce Presents Live Demo of Her Realist Still Life Painting Techniques

Upstairs Artspace is pleased to invite the community to a still life painting demonstration followed by Q&A by Bethany Pierce on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026 from 10 am - 12 pm in conjunction with its exhibition, An Ancient Genre Revisited: Still Lifes by Chris Clamp, Andrew Leventis, and Christina Vogel. Tickets are $25 per person, and may be purchased online here. The gallery is located at 49 S. Trade St., Tryon. Tickets are limited so as to keep the event intimate and instructive.

During this demo, the community will have a unique opportunity to observe highly regarded painter Bethany Pierce share her still life painting techniques. Pierce will start a painting from scratch and show the audience how she builds her rich, highly realistic images by layering transparent color and other illusionistic effects. 

A writer and painter working out of Asheville, NC, Pierce explores pleasure, beauty, and temporality, finding meditations on these subjects in both common daily objects and in nature. Whether working in classical still life techniques or more spontaneous abstractions, her paintings are known for their optical effects of light, created by the layering of transparent color. 

"In my still life work, I’m inspired by daily rituals and commonplace pleasures: birthday cakes, flowers from the garden, dinner with friends. Though the things I paint are known for being beautiful or indulgent, they are also prone to rapid decay. Icing melts, flowers wilt. Things that were once tempting and fresh begin to harden and turn. Rather than editing out these quick alterations of time, I respond to them,” says Pierce about her work.

She adds, “I consider this painting practice a modern interpretation of the Vanitas tradition. The Vanitas is a work of art that symbolizes the transience of life and is perhaps best exemplified by a genre of still life painting that flourished in the Netherlands in the 17th century. These opulent still life arrangements featured objects that represented death and change and fragility, things like wisps of smoke, spoiling fruit, and flowers that had begun to fade. Historically, the Vanitas was an exhortation, often patronized by the church, to scorn earthly appetites. I’m more interested in how the same meditation can remind us to stay in the present – to attend to the physical experience of this world and cherish moments of pleasure or happiness, which are all the more precious because they are fleeting.” 

Pierce has exhibited throughout the Southeast as well as in Ontario, Austin, and New York. Her work may be found online at BethanyPierce.com.

For more information, contact the gallery at 828-859-2828 or email frontdesk@upstairsartspace.org. An Ancient Genre Revisited: Still Lifes by Chris Clamp, Andrew Leventis, and Christina Vogel is on display September 13 through October 16, 2026. The gallery is open Wednesday through Sunday, 12-5 pm.