I am Bethany, the artist behind WestOak Watercolor and I am so glad you are here!

Thank you for stopping by to learn a bit about my work and my creative journey.  I grew up in Minnesota, spending my summers swimming like a fish at the lake and my winters building snow forts and sledding down the biggest hills I could find.   It was the best childhood. I’ve always been something of a creative spirit, and a job I had during high school at a local drug store peaked my interest into the world of merchandising.  I felt hopeful that it would allow me to be both creative, yet grounded in business (aka, afford to make a living!).

After college I started my career at the Bass Pro Shops Headquarters in Springfield, MO as an assistant buyer, and then later moved into a product development role.  It was a huge education for me learning how to drive the product lifecycle from concept to customer, and left me wishing I had taken some fashion and design classes in college…but nothing is better than a hands on learning experience.  My time growing up hunting and fishing with my Dad proved to be invaluable as I sat in vendor meetings with “the good ol’ boys” talking about how to design hunting clothing.  Who would have thought?  But the best thing of all to come out of my time at the sporting goods retailer was that it introduced me to my future husband.