Bets Ondrey

In Scarcity or Excess: Gleaning Color From Inside Fresh Fruit

In Sparsity or Excess: Gleaning Color From Inside Fresh Fruit, a bountiful collection of work that builds upon itself giving meaning to joined abundance through color, and ornament. Through the labor of hand cutting 37 paper stencils I establish a routine of meticulous care enacted upon each panel and its unique seal. A stamp of approval that grants permission and conveys gratitude for the work itself. The ornament that results from my process compels me to appreciate the surface, as well as slow down to assemble a lush composition and color world. Through an impressive treasury of oil paint colors I am able to access a diverse, rich palette. Precise decisions of whether to redden, illuminate, obscure, overshadow, or deepen are paramount to my approach as I paint. While admiring a somber overcast painting I am thrilled quietly, celebrating the careful choice made between Portland Grey and Paynes Grey. I delight at glimmers of daffodil yellows, seashell pinks, and summery greens peeking from behind dense clouds. Subtle color shifts become significant symbolizing attentiveness while touch accumulates and devotion materializes.

Bio

Bets Ondrey is an artist working primarily in oil painting and paper cutting. She was raised in Wells, ME, & now happily lives with her labrador, Pierogi, in Portland ME. She is currently studying at the Maine College of Art & Design, with an expected graduation in May 2026. She has shown work at the Copeland Gallery in Peckham, London, Memorial Hall in Providence, RI & 49 Oak in Portland, ME.

She is captivated by ornamental wrought iron fences, sunlight through leaves, candy that hurts your stomach, and everpresent color worlds. Bets strives to be constantly creating in her immediate surroundings whether it's drawing animal cookies on napkins or elaborate doodling in her calendar. Right now, Bets is experiencing the sparkling chill of deep underground water in Western Maine’s swimming holes.