Meet Beth Cyr | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Beth Cyr and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Beth, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
When I first started my business, I had very little balance. I worked pretty much all the time. I was excited to though, so it didn’t feel like a bad thing. After awhile though, I realized that I needed to make time to take off – to consciously travel and make space for the transition to and from time off. Recently I’ve practiced swinging in the opposite direction. Taking longer travel periods and more off times. Learning to really enjoy LIFE outside of running my business. I can feel the shift changing (and needing to) to working a bit more again while maintaining my sense of self outside of who I am when I’m running a business.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My work seems to be ever evolving. At the core, my inspiration has been a landscape with trees, the stars and moon. It comes through in my jewelry, drawings, paintings and photography, either an entire landscape piece or small details like tree bark or meteorites. I love the small details and textures and the big picture. I’ve never been in to making the same thing over and over so being able to experiment and try new things in different mediums using the same themes is really exciting for me.

I’ve gotten to where I am today with a lot of experimentation, trial and error. Sometimes things work really well and are easy and sometimes not. I’ve definitely had a lot of challenges. I think doing yoga and meditation are some of the best tools I’ve had for working through the challenges I’ve had. (I’m also a trained yoga and meditation teacher.) I’m also very patient and quite tenacious at times. I have a lot of endurance for making it through stressful challenges. It isn’t always the best quality – sometimes knowing when to stop/pivot/move on is the best.

Learning to pause is also a really valuable tool. Extending kindness and compassion to others, but most importantly to yourself… so helpful as an artist and when running a business.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
The area I live in is fairly rural, so when coming to visit – the whole of the Olympic Peninsula is part of the trip! Within Port Townsend, Velocity is my favorite coffee shop. It’s on the water, I love the people that work there and the coffee and tea is the best. I love to take people to the Port Townsend Marine Science Center and take walks around Fort Worden or North Beach.

Nature is the predominant feature around here and there are lots of place to take small or large hikes not too far out of Port Townsend. Fort Townsend, Gibbs Lake and Anderson Lake all have nice shorter/easier hikes. Going up to Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park has amazing views and reachable by car so accessible to anyone regardless of hiking capability.

Finnriver Farm and Cidery is a great place to take larger groups or people with kids – there’s lots of space to run around and quite a few food and beverage options. I love the crepes from Little Spruce Creperie.

A favorite and unique food spot is Hama Hama Oyster Saloon. It’s on the water and the grilled oysters are amazing. It’s an hour south of Port Townsend, but definitely worth it.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My Patreon supporters! I am so grateful for them every month when I create the image of the month and get to send out whatever it is. It is so fun to have a small group of supporters that are happy to support me no matter what I create. As a full time working artist it can be easy to get think too much about “will this sell?” I love getting to just make whatever feels really inspiring in the moment and send it out to Patreon friends. I love to experiment and it is a great way to get feedback on new tests of designs and products.

I’ve also worked with a few different coaches who have helped me so much through many different cycles and transitions of my business – Steph Lagana, Rebecca Marshall and Sara Taylor. Each have helped me through different phases and I’m so grateful for the support and perspectives they’ve given me.

And to throw a book in the mix – The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. I’ve read it several times and it has had a huge impact every time (and different every time!) If there is one book I wish everyone would read, it would be that one.

Website: https://www.bethcyr.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bethcyrstudio/

Image Credits
Beth Cyr