Matt Beard

For the last year I've been part of a small poetry group with Jeff Woodke @the_ransomed_poet and a handful of other inspiring humans. We gather and share poems, and by doing so, we share our lives and get to know one another on far deeper levels than life typically allows. What a blessing it's been to get to know these folks, and Jeff in particular.    A career of humanitarian work and dedicated missionary work in Africa culminated in his capture and subsequent 6 and a half years in brutal captivity at the hands of Al-Queda.       Finally released a few years ago, his challenge of coming home is still unfolding. Many of us knew him, grieved with his family, prayed for him, maybe even quietly mourned his death prematurely, and then celebrated on the day of his release (I even had a wild dream of freedom the night before I heard of his release).       I knew him in many ways. We all did, and now that he's back we've gone on expecting him to match the mental images we built of him in his absence. But how can an experience like that leave a person unchanged?       Even still, we get uncomfortable when he doesn't match our mental image. Only by getting to know him now, walking with him now, hearing him and understanding him today, do we even know him at all.       This is the truth for all of us and all of the people in our lives- if we aren't still getting to know someone, we don't even know them at all.       ---   In addition to our small poetry group, Jeff and a few others from the group have been regularly attending A Reason To Listen (Humboldt County's longest running open mic poetry event) for the last year or so and sharing poems there.     Jeff is the featured poet tonight!    So after hearing from a dozen or so local poets delivering all the untamed wildness of their expansive hearts, Jeff will take the floor and give us 20 minutes of himself in verbal form. I am looking forward to this immensely.      It's open to the public, info is in the image.       Also, the Septentrio Barrel Room was unharmed by last week's horrendous fire across the street, so this is a great chance to come and support the neighborhood and show some love.      Hope to see you there!

All of this is for you     Every candle  Every flame that dances  With the playfulness of a child  Whispering I am here  And I am alive    All of this is for you    Every ancient light  That hung from the very first sky  Every shimmering star that led you out of slavery from your own personal Egypt     All of this is for you    Every stone you laid your head upon beneath that procession of stars while watching the angels ascend and descend traversing the length of your spine     All of this is for you     This stable outside of Jerusalem  This feeding trough  This bed of hay  The smell of the beasts  The noise  The mess  And this place of hungry rest    All of this is for you    All of this was prepared for you  While you were yet Formless and Void  Before the first light dawned  Before your pregnant mother’s water broke into skies and seas  Before the trees took their first breath inflating your sunken chest  Before your heart began to beat the drum circle rhythms that turned every cell in your body into millions of gyrating hippies lost in your music and high on your DNA  Before your spirit took flight on the wings of birds  Before your subconscious became the giant wooden fish that would swallow you whole on a whole other day  Before your hunger prowled the desert looking for stones to turn into bread  And before the graven image of your body was carefully placed in the most holy place inside the temple of your life just as gently as a newborn is laid upon its mother’s tender breast  Yes, before the spirit of God came to rest  Dwelling in your cries  That shattered the darkness of this silent starry night    All of this is for you     This is your birth  This is your life  And we can see the world entire  In these fragile fires  Reflecting from your eyes tonight    So come, let us hold you now  Shaking and wet  Let us comfort you  Singing softly over you  Because the day will come  When we find ourselves in your arms instead  As we whisper with our dying breath    All of this...  All of this was for you    --- Much love to all... A nativity poem for the Christmas Eve candlelight service tonight at Branches, 5pm

"Mine... Or Maybe Yours" Another personal favorite of mine (or maybe also yours), hanging at my gallery now. And now that we're just a few days from Christmas, things are winding down and I'm settling into the quieter days of family, long nights, lots of rain, comfy socks, hot cider made from apples from our over-active tree (that thing STILL has more bright red apples on it than I could eat in a season) and movie nights with the family where the movie matters less and less and the family around me and my wife's hand in mine mean the entire world and then some. I guess that is to say I'm thankful for many things. High on that list is thankfulness to all of you who choose to give the gift of art this time of year. You are heroes to me and you have made my simple life of art possible (even if it's just all just a front for my covert habit of writing odd poems as of lately). I should also add that if you're a last-minute person, bless your heart, my gallery will be open today until 4pm and also Tuesday and Wednesday from 10am - 4pm. There's still a great selection of art down there. Drop in anytime during open hours or hit me up if you want to connect in person and I can meet you there as soon as I find my shoes. Much love and I hope you all have a moment to slow down and see the blessings around you this year. Cheers! --- Matt Beard Art Gallery 1636 F St (inside Eureka Art and Frame) Open today, tomorrow and Christmas Eve from 10am to 4pm

This is beer  Just beer   But also more than beer   It's gratitude   Which sounds weird   But it's true   This is most* of the beers   That have been brought to my gallery   By folks like you   That have read my holiday posts   (which border on flat out bribery)   Asking for beers   In exchange for better deals   But it's not about the beers   Or the deals   It's about you guys   Showing up   With offerings in your hands   Letting me know    That even in this algorithmic storm   I am not drifting and lost   And I am not alone   And you hear me   And for thatI am thankful   Beyond these words      And so here we are   One final Saturday before Christmas   And I'm here at the gallery from 1-4pm   Looking forward to your arrival   And you can imagine   It's a good day to bring a beer   And walk out with more art than   One should reasonably expect      Cheers   & Happy Holidays!      ---      Matt Beard Art Gallery   1636 F St   (inside Eureka Art and Frame Co)   Saturday (TODAY!) 1-4pm   M-W this week 10am-5pm      ---      *Two giant jars of homebrewed cider and black lager, as well as several jars of marmalade could not be pictured here for logistical reasons beyond my control. But you know who you are, and they were delicious!!

I've never been the best friend to anyone  Never  Ask my family  They've seen it all  I say hurtful things  And do hurtful things  When I am hurt  I need forgiveness  As much as I need to forgive  So when a friendship is rifted  There is no greater joy  Than being reconciled  However that looks    Spencer Reynolds and I had been great friends  Not long time friends  Not even the deepest friendship  But we have so much in common  In life  In art  In the challenges that both have brought  And in carrying on when  Everything else is falling apart  So the rift that grew between us  Was painful     We needed a bridge  A few years back we spent a few days  Painting his home coast of Southern Oregon together  It was a natural bridge    When he showed me this view  I couldn't help but get excited  Big Sur and Trinidad had a baby!  And here it was  Full of healing beauty    The only problem?  The best vantage point was a narrow ledge  Just wide enough for my easel and feet  Sloping over loose dirt  To a 200 foot vertical drop  And like any good friend  (with a shaky history)  Spencer insisted I take this spot  (I quietly questioned his motives)       Now I'm a bit of a mountain goat  Heights don't bother me much  As long as I have a solid footing  I thought this would be no different  As I started this painting  But dang if this ledge wasn't giving me vertigo    I told Spencer I couldn't do it  Thanks for the view  But this drop is freaking me out  And come to think of it  I don't want to die today       This is when Spencer showed me what true friendship is  He produced a cam strap from his bag of paint supplies  And proceeded to loop it around a hefty tree root  And I looped around my belt as well  Now I couldn't fall if I tried  So instead of freaking out  I could forget about the ledge  Even lean on the rope  Trusting it to hold    It's good to have a friend back  This one is for you Mr. Reynolds    "Thanks for Not Letting Me Die Today"  16" x 20"  Limited Edition Canvas Print    ---  This one is hanging at my gallery now  1636 F St  (inside Eureka Art and Frame Co)  M-F 10am-5pm  And this Saturday from 1-4pm

5-mil mermaids?  You know who you are  This one is for you    ---  No Mere Maid  24" x 30"  Limited Edition Canvas Print    This one is hanging at my gallery now, amongst a bunch of others 1636 F St   (inside Eureka Art and Frame Co)   M-F 10am-5pm   And this Saturday from 1-4pm

This is where we are  Out on a hill in the wind  Windswept  Alone  Silent  But off in the distance  We can see a better place  An ocean of grace  We can hear the music  From the valley below  But we cannot touch  Or taste  So here we sit  And wait  For a chain-smoking bastard  With a mouth full of stories  And a heart full of love  In a borrowed pickup truck  To take us away?  Yep.  If we can’t see Christ in the crazy ones  How will we see Him in anyone else?  Or even in ourselves?  Salvation isn’t always pretty  Later on  When I saw him standing in the fire  And heard him singing like an angel  My suspicions were confirmed    ---  True story   (well sorta, you might have to squint a bit and tilt yer head)    “Say Nothing”  24” x 16” Limited Edition Canvas Print  Originally painted on location, 2021  Look this one up on my site for the full backstory, it was a memorable day- and worth a read if you haven't yet.    Also, this print is hanging at my gallery now, amongst a bunch of others  1636 F St  (inside Eureka Art and Frame Co)  M-F 10am-5pm  And this Saturday from 1-4pm

This is how boring it is at my gallery when you're not here. The walls start closing in and everything is shades of gray, black and white, until you show up and flood the room with living color. Bring beer! Or marmalade if that's your jam, because it is most certainly my jam and also a great way to ensure the bestest of holiday dealses. Bribery? Absolutely, but it's fun and delicious. 1-4pm today (Saturday) 1636 F St Inside Eureka Art and Frame Hope to see you soon!

It's quite a puzzle...    I've painted many hundreds of paintings, of different locations all over California's coast (and some just outta my head). I never know where a person's "spot" might be so I make them all available on my site in one format or another.     And man, the most random images are ordered as prints all year round. It's fun to see the offbeat spots that you all connect with as your own.    But what about when you just want to see what's in my gallery? Check the sizes, and all that? What if you need something fast, maybe shipped today or tomorrow?    I've tried to do this before, but without much success. And so far this year's effort seems to be the most promising yet. I can take photos of new prints as they arrive in the gallery, manage them from my phone, and magically have them displayed on my site in a section on my gallery's page. I know the technical stuff is a bore, and most likely if you try to use it, the whole thing will glitch out and you'll be frustrated, and then proceed to tell me about how great your nephew is at building websites because surely any 12 year old could do better than my cobbled together effort. But dang if I can afford to pay a 12 year old the going rates, and besides, I am proud of my cobbling and actually quite enjoy it.    Anyway, yeah, I'm also just letting you know I've got a lot of great art hanging at the gallery, ready to go home or get shipped today, and you can check it all on my site now if you're so inclined.    Also, also, if you live in Arcata and want anything you see here, let me know before 4pm today and I can bring it up to Seapod tonight, where I'll be posted up at Marnie's Seapod shop in the Creamery Building from 6-9pm. Come say hi!   Also, also, also, I'll be at the gallery myself tomorrow (Saturday) again from 1-4pm, doing my best to make your offerings of beers and marmalade more than worth your trouble.

I painted this one at a live event outdoors a few years back. It was a very bright and sunny day. It would have been nice to find some shade but all the shade was occupied by musicians and beer vendors, so what was I to do? The obvious thing of course- wedge myself right in between them both. I may not be smart, but I’m no dummy. "Between the Music and the Beer" Limited Edition Canvas, 30" x 20" Hanging at the gallery now --- Matt Beard Art Gallery 1636 F St Eureka (inside Eureka Art and Frame) M-F 10am-5pm + Saturdays until Christmas from 1-4pm (bring beer for the best deals, or marmalade is a fine alternative, I love that stuff)

I'm not running on fumes  I could go on for miles  2 of them to be exact  This time of year can be like this  But you know what fills me up?  Connections along the way  So on that note...    Come and connect with me in Arcata  At Seapod in the Creamery Building  Tomorrow (Friday) Night!  Not sure what I'll be doing there  But I know I'll be enjoying it  And I'll have some art and books   On hand for the gift givers    Or if Arcata isn't your style  Drop by my gallery on Saturday  Which is another chance to connect  Where I'll hang out all afternoon  Waiting for your arrival  My car will be out front  Parked awkwardly  Because it's out of gas    ---  Seapod Humboldt   824 L St #12  Arcata (in the courtyard of the Creamery)  Friday 6-9pm    ---  Matt Beard Art Gallery  1636 F St  Eureka (inside Eureka Art and Frame)  M-F 10am-5pm  + Saturdays until Christmas from 1-4pm  (bring beer for the best deals, or marmalade is a fine alternative, I love that stuff)

"Surf Check Daydream"  Because it's never like this  But we all line up on the side of the road  Wishing it were    There's more to this painting  Which is actually just a section of a much larger  Maple Wood Print  Hanging at my gallery now    Matt Beard Art Gallery  (inside Eureka Art and Frame)  1636 F St  M-F 10am-5pm  + Saturdays until Christmas from 1-4pm