For sculptor Beth Elliott, the creative process is as important as the finished work.
Her art practice begins with curiosity, learning and the study of materials. Whether working solely in clay or blending it with other media, she incorporates each material’s properties and nuances into her pieces. The result is sculptural vessels that are also illustrations of texture, mood and story.
“I often work in series, chasing a feeling until it can be resolved and reflected in the vessel,” she says. “Some series grow from small changes, others from large leaps, but each builds on the last. Sometimes I revisit themes and ideas that keep calling to me.”
Her vessels carry the subtle marks of an ongoing conversation between the artist and her materials. Elliott’s surface designs may include illustrative layers, delicate textures or artifacts that arise when she cuts apart a form and reassembles it. These markings are her private and public lexicon, a free and instinctive response to the external world. “The viewer completes my process,” she explains. “They bring their own experiences to the work, and the conversation continues.”
Elliott has lived in Western North Carolina for five and a half years, working in the River Arts District for just as long. The RAD’s strong connections and resilience have only deepened since Hurricane Helene. “The studios that were intact opened their doors to those who lost gallery and studio space as soon as they could,” she recalls. Her own community studio, Odyssey, was spared, and its director made space for displaced clay artists during the recovery. Elliott is now showing work at Joan Awake in the RAD and its sister location, Gallery Cor, downtown.
Her piece in Asheville Regional Airport’s new terminal, we tried our best, was the first she created after the hurricane. “We all tried our best during and after the hurricane,” Elliott says. “We are still trying our best. For some that means taking care of themselves and their family, for others that means becoming the mayor of the water school bus and the hero who builds new houses. Others create arches of branches overlooking the river filled with flowers and notes. Some of us need to nap and catch up on laundry. It’s all ok. We do what we can.”
The vessel is high-fired stoneware finished with slips, engobes, and carvings, sealed with a matte clear glaze. Its surface markings reference community, river paths and love — a visual record of care in the face of upheaval.
Elliott finds inspiration in many landscapes: the blue ridges of her mountain home, the distinctive plants and vistas of California and New Mexico and the quiet where she lives outside Asheville. Japan is next on her wish list for its gardens, clay traditions and design sensibility woven into daily life.
No matter the setting, Elliott’s work reflects a deep engagement with process, place and connection. As she shapes each vessel, she also shapes a story — one that waits to be completed by the hands, eyes, and imagination of its viewer.
You can view Elliott's piece "we tried our best" in the exhibit "Mountain Memories" at Asheville Regional Airport, on display through October 30, 2025. The exhibit is displayed in the Asheville Regional Airport Art Gallery located in the new North Concourse, post security – please note only ticketed passengers can view this area.
