Bettie Grace Miner

An alternative photographer and fine artist, Bettie Grace Miner creates art pieces that combine photography and painting techniques.

Miner’s creative roots originally began in music, evolving into the fine arts. Her childhood was spent primarily in Southern California and the Seattle, Washington area. But as the daughter of a career Navy Seabee, Bettie traveled and moved a lot as a child. At age five Bettie’s father received orders to move to Paris, France where she attended grade school and enjoyed field trips that took her to art museums and painting expeditions in the park overlooking the Eiffel Tower. It’s no surprise that she is influenced by French painters. From the age of 14, Bettie studied music and played in local Washington bands. After graduating from a music program in Seattle, Washington with the specialized degree “Music in Performance and Industry” Bettie then made the big move back to L.A. to pursue a career in music, only to be sidelined by a career in art, for which she is eternally grateful!

Her first endeavors in fine art were very abstract expressionist oil paintings in the style of artist Jackson Pollock. She soon transitioned into Impressionist painting and fine art photography. Influences include Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, and Rembrandt as well as contemporary artists and photographers such as Leroy Neiman, Jackson Pollock, Peter Max and Annie Lebowitz.

Bettie informally studied photography, as a rather unintentional assistant, to creative partner, Randy Galligan. When they met in 1983, Randy needed an apprentice, temporarily, “just until things got going.” Bettie is still working with him and learning from him to this very day.

A lover of music, Miner began a series of jazz art spanning seven years and culminating into more than one hundred images of jazz artists and music inspired art. Exhibits, limited edition prints, posters, Giclees, collectible books and more have brought the faces of contemporary jazz musicians to fans worldwide.

Miner creates art featured by numerous jazz and blues festivals benefiting national charities. Her dedication to children’s causes, environmental, wildlife, and art programs has been a heartfelt and ongoing ambition.

Bettie Grace Miner’s largest collection of work features hand-manipulated Polaroid SX-70 photographs. Her Polaroid images were created by photographing each subject with a vintage Polaroid SX-70 camera and hand manipulating the dyes in the photograph as it developed; thereby achieving the very “painterly” quality for which she is best known. Imagery including everything from wine and delicate flowers to 300 mph dragsters has been the subjects of Bettie’s Polaroid artwork. With the demise of Polaroid films, Bettie began to explore other creative avenues.

“I use a camera like a painter uses a brush and paint. First, I use a camera to capture the image, then use brush strokes to capture the art.”

Always moved and inspired by the masters, Miner’s current work has taken her full circle, back to painting, where she combines fine art photography with her great love for Impressionist and Expressionist art. This metamorphosis finds Bettie creating a fine art photograph, which she then uses as the foundation for a painting.

Bettie loves accepting private commissions that give her the opportunity to create dynamic dramatic fine art photographs which she lovingly refers to as “straight ahead” photography. You can take the girl out of jazz, but….

Current projects include a series of Wine Art which will be featured in the 2010 Anniversary calendar for the California Wine Club. A new series of music art called “The Midnight Show” is on permanent exhibit at Spaghettini Grill & Jazz Club in Seal Beach, California. The exhibit depicts members of a very hip jazz band, each with their own canvas, lined up on the walls of the nightclub and always playing. The pieces from these collections are available as limited edition, signed and numbered Giclees.

Miner recently launched her own art publishing company, creating limited edition Giclees on paper and canvas, which sell to galleries, art dealers, wineries, interior designers and private collectors. Her work has been internationally embraced and collected.