East River Gothic. Oil, 29 x 23, 2012 · a Leanin’ Tree card. It really changed my life. What is your favorite piece? The piece I have always liked the most is a large watercolor

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East River Gothic. Oil, 29 x 23, 2012

BY K ARIN L A Z ARUS

Becky Everitt: Profile of a Colorado Artist

Plein air and studio painter, Becky Everitt, explores subjects that make viewers feel hap-py. “I do not paint controversial subjects or unhappy situations. My favorite subject is

the Colorado Rockies for many reasons. It brings joy and peace to me just to be there and view the beau-ty around me. There are so many different things in varied seasons and locations to excite the eye of the beholder,” she says.

Everitt’s genre of realism is entirely her own. She has an appreciation for detail and draws inspiration from the beauty of nature. Technically intricate but tentative, ostensible yet mysterious, she blurs the phys-ical to illuminate the spiritual. For her, it is more than just a subject. She looks for essential visual cues to put on canvas to create joyful pieces that convey her sense of wonder, pleasure, and zest for life. She begins by mentally trying to put herself in the painting, and vi-sualizing what it will look like. Then she lightly puts in the basic outlines of the subject. “My pieces remind me of places I have been to, memories of special occasions, how fortunate I am to live in this wonderful area, and to also be able to travel to interesting places around the world. My home is full of my artwork. Sometimes I am almost sad to see some leave.” 

Born in 1941 in her parent’s farmhouse north of Aurora, Missouri, she was always interested in art. “I remember coloring almost perfectly at age three. We lived on a dairy farm at that time. Whenever my dad would go to town, I would beg him to bring me more paint and paper. I have really done artwork nearly all my life.”

In 1947, her family moved to Colorado where Ever-itt attended school and was encouraged to pursue and study art. She graduated from Colorado State Univer-sity in 1963 with a B.A. in art education. After graduat-ing, she and her husband, Chuck, whom she met while at CSU, moved to a small mining town in Arizona to teach. They not only taught elementary, middle-, and high-school grades, but also ran all the school func-tions, including producing the school plays, in a school system that had no money or supplies. And it seemed that no one cared about educating the students. Everitt taught art and French, while Chuck taught metal shop and auto mechanics. When he asked the superinten-dent for rivets for his class, the answer was “A salesman will be come by in a month or so.”

[ a r t s , h u m a n i t i e s , a n d s p i r i t u a l i t y ]

Copyright © 2014 Society of Certified Senoir Advisors; all rights reserved. This article may not be published, duplicated, reprinted or distributed in any form without written permission from the publisher: Society of Certified Senior Advisors, 720 N Colorado Blvd. Suite 750 N Denver, CO 80246; e-mail: [email protected]

CSA JOURNAL 57 / WINTER 2013 / SOCIETY OF CERTIFIED SENIOR ADVISORS / WWW.CSA.US PAGE 39

The situation became impossible, and the Everitts left after fulfilling their one-year contract. Eventually, Chuck got a teaching job in Nebraska but Everitt could only find work as a substitute teacher. While there, she heard that a ranch in South Dakota was looking for a couple to help out with work on the 7000-acre ranch. It sounded exciting enough and Chuck drove up to assess the situation. “The ranch was seventy miles from the nearest town. I’m sure if I had gone with Chuck that day I would have said no,” she recalled. But Chuck took the job and they moved. It would freeze there in June, yet the couple was expected to feed cattle with a team of horses and wagon. They had been there only two weeks when Chuck’s dad drove up from Parker, Colorado, to help out. Still, Everitt always made time to paint. After three years they had had enough, and in 1977 decided it was time to move home to Colorado where they have been ever since.

Everitt has always been involved in creating art but didn’t get serious about it until the 1970s. She has mastered various media using a wide range of pastels, oils, and watercolors. After painting in oil for twenty years, she needed a change and switched to watercolor for twenty years. “Now I am in love with pastels but still paint in all three mediums.”

Everitt doesn’t color within the lines! She lives life large, and does everything with finesse and style. This passion is reflected in her artwork. Her pieces focus on the things she loves that challenge and en-liven her.

She and her husband, Chuck, who recently cele-brated their fiftieth wedding anniversary, belong to the Top of the Rockies Corvette Club. “Back in 1965, I had a Corvette that I used to drag race. Yes, really! I even won a trophy. Years later when I was taking care of my elderly parents, I told my husband I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown. It was just so much work. I told him I needed a toy and he brought me a new Corvette. That car really helped me out. My friend said I am a different person when I’m in it.” After Everitt tells me this she says, “Don’t make me sound too wild in the article.” Then she talks about singing in the Long’s Peak Dixieland Gospel Band and the costumes she designed for them—flapper girls’ dresses complete with fringes.

The Everitts belong to the Kiwanis Club of Long-mont, and in three years, they have made almost elev-en thousand toys in their garage for club members to give to children around the world. At this point in her life, Everitt is interested in helping others as much as

New Mexico Sun Spots. Oil, 22 x 27, 2007

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Copyright © 2014 Society of Certified Senoir Advisors

possible. She donates time and materials to a variety of charities and scholarship funds, and counts her bless-ings every day. She has a clear vision and a passion to create and give back to the universe. Her glorious, sparkling landscapes capture and celebrate the world reflected within and around her.

Twenty Questions for Becky Everitt

Are you spiritual? If so does your spirituality guide you in creating your pieces? Yes, I have a very strong faith, have always gone to church as long as I can re-member. I do not paint religious subjects but I thank God for the gift of art He gave me.

What is a typical day in your life as an artist? No day is really typical. I just get to the studio or outdoors whenever I can get some free time to work.

What’s the last art show that you saw? Becoming Van Gogh at the Denver Art Museum.

What’s the last show that surprised you? Why? At the Van Gogh exhibit at the Denver Art Museum, it was amazing to see the stages of his early studies

and how his art evolved from traditional classroom studies of ordinary subjects into his own expressive style of painting. Also, it was incredible to view the huge volume of work knowing that none sold during his lifetime. I could almost feel the energy of his art flowing from his later paintings.

What’s your favorite place to see art? The Denver Art Museum.

Where do you find ideas for your work these days? I get my inspiration mostly from nature and trav-eling. I enjoy going to Rocky Mountain National Park and Red Feather Lakes, especially in the fall, which is my favorite time of year. I have traveled ex-tensively over the years and also enjoy capturing the old buildings and landscapes of France, Italy, Spain, China and most recently Ireland, Scotland, and En-gland while on a concert tour with the Longmont Chorale. I have to use photos for this last trip’s subjects.

Do you collect anything? My joke is that I collect dust from making wooden toys in our garage over the last three years with the Kiwanis Club. 

Banyan Tree Park. Pastel, 18 x 24, 2009

CSA JOURNAL 57 / WINTER 2013 / SOCIETY OF CERTIFIED SENIOR ADVISORS / WWW.CSA.US PAGE 41

Copyright © 2014 Society of Certified Senoir Advisors

What’s the last artwork you purchased? Having lived in Nebraska for ten years, I fell in love with a piece called Sand Bluffs by Peg Fowler when we were doing an art show at Fort Robinson, which is close to South Dakota. The fort has a long, colorful history that is wonderfully preserved.

What’s the first artwork you ever sold? It was a large oil painting of the Oregon coast commissioned by a couple in Fort Morgan, Colorado, where I was teach-ing art at the junior high school in 1963. 

Do you feel that there is one specific piece you have created that was pivotal in your career? Yes. I went to Wisconsin with three artist friends for a watercolor workshop and learned a totally new technique. The first painting I hung at the gallery downtown was made into a Leanin’ Tree card. It really changed my life.

What is your favorite piece? The piece I have always liked the most is a large watercolor of The Never Sum-mer Range,  north of Grand Lake. I used my new technique of splashing flowers in the foreground and added a little cabin and snow lines on the high peaks. I had cards made from that painting twice.

Where is your work is shown? Many of the galleries I was in have closed after the recession. I am now in the Red Canyon Art Company in Lyons, and The Great Frame Up and Leenie’s Café, both in Longmont, Col-orado. I also show with the Longmont Artists Guild at the Senior Center Christmas show in December, and in June at Boulder County Fairgrounds. I will have a four-month show at Sun Rose Café in Longmont, starting in January 2014.

Who has had the strongest influence on you to become the person you are today? Undoubtedly my husband of fifty years.

What is your greatest accomplishment? Raising our three sons.

If you weren’t an artist, what would you be? A musician. I played viola for two years in the all-state orchestra while at CSU. I had been offered a music scholarship but I had always wanted to be an art teacher. I did play in the Longmont Symphony for many years.

Where is your favorite place to paint? The many beautiful areas of the Rocky Mountains.

What is the one thing most people don’t know about you? As a kid I always wanted to be Annie Oakley.  My dad taught me to shoot at an early age. 

You have some wild hobbies, like the Corvette club, and gospel band. Does any of this relate to your art? I have thought about painting cars, but have not done any yet. My travels are also good opportunities for dif-ferent ideas. 

What work of art do you wish you owned? I really love Van Gogh’s Starry Night because of its subject and energy.

What is the best piece of advice you have received? When our boys were young, I worked several differ-ent jobs to help pay the bills. After working at a nurs-ing home for a year, my chiropractor said, “This job is killing you. Find something you love.” My dear friend said, “Do something you love, the money will follow.” So I just started painting full time. 

Becky Everitt’s painting, End of the Season at Red Feathers, has been chosen to hang in the Denver of-fice of Senator Michael Bennett. It will be on exhibit throughout 2014. She may be contacted at [email protected]. •CSA

Karin Lazarus has been writing about cooking and art for more than a decade. As a former artist’s representative, she has always been fascinated with the art world. You can reach her at [email protected].

End of the Season at Red Feather Lakes. Pastel, 36 x 40, 2007

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Flamenco Dancers, pastel, 16 x 20”, 2009

CSA JOURNAL 57 / WINTER 2013 / SOCIETY OF CERTIFIED SENIOR ADVISORS / WWW.CSA.US PAGE 43