(c) 2009 NPT PHOTO BY KATHY HEMSWORTH Award-winning artist Mary Todd Beam is shown with a quilt she bought at a flea market in South Carolina. The quilt inspired the painting, also shown.

COSBY---An award-winning artist who resides in Cosby has published a second art book, which was ranked as a bestseller in art books early after its March release.
Mary Todd Beam has taught art workshops around the world. Her first book, Celebrate Your Creative Self, has sold more than 60,000 copies worldwide thus far. Her new book, The Creative Edge: Exercises to Celebrate Your Creative Self, is doing well since its release two months ago.
"When I was in first grade, it was more fun to draw pictures of the teacher than to listen," she recalls.
When she was in third grade, she had the opportunity to enter an art contest and won. Her prize was art classes at the Dayton Institute of Art. She believes her artistic abilities are hereditary, discussing her father's creativity.
"My father was so creative, he almost killed us with his creativity," she said laughing. She recalls her father, who suffered health problems, particularly diabetes, was an avid photographer and was always up for a challenge, and at one time he even tried to raise chickens in the house. She said it was more than just his creative genius at work, she credits his Irish descent for his creativity and dedication.
Born in Ohio during the time she describes as "the end of the Great Depression and beginning of World War II," Beam explained she and her siblings made their own toys and would often find old paint buckets and brushes, which she used to paint on sidewalks.
"When my paintings would fade or wash away, I would cry and my mother just didn't know what to do," she said. "I was heart broken to see my creations fade and the sidewalks left plain and bare."
In addition to being a painter and popular workshop instructor, she is an elected member of the American Watercolor Society. She became a Dolphin Fellow and won their Gold Medal of Honor in 1996. She has been a juror for local, state and national exhibits.
Her work has been included in several major exhibits, including the National Academy of Design's Biennnial Exhibit in New York City. She has won numerous awards, including the Gold Medal from the National Watercolor Society, the Ralph Fabri Medal, the Ohio Watercolor Society's Silver and Bronze Medals, the Lone Star Award, and Top Juror's Award in the San Diego Watercolor Society Annual Exhibit.
In addition, she has won the Experimental Award in the National Watercolor Society's Annual Event in Los Angeles, Calif. She is listed among Who's Who in American Art and the World's Who's Who of Women.
For the second time, she has been invited to participate in the International Exhibition of Contemporary International Watermedia Masters. She was one of 90 artists (24 of them from the U.S.), who participated last year. Her entry featured Cricket Creek, which flows near her Cosby home. The painting sold to a Chinese businessman, so a part of Cosby now hangs in China, she noted.
Discussing her cabin hidden away in a wooded area of Cosby, Beam said, "We have so much inspiration here. I could just stay here forever and paint. The streams, mountains, and wildlife always seem to come out in my paintings some way."
One of her pieces includes an image of the barn that stood where the Wal-Mart SuperCenter is now located in Newport. Another painting focuses on the loss of hemlocks in the area, while another was inspired by a visit to Douglas Lake, where she saw a lone small fish in a pool and the feather of a great blue herring on the ground.
"As an artist, I feel the need to interpret where I live," she explained. "My paintings are about Cosby and Tennessee."
She said she wants someone to look at her paintings 100 years from now and be able to tell what it was like to be a woman in this space in time. Her works include a series about women addressing the "empty nest syndrome."
One painting, "Shop Beauty at Phyllis'" was featured in a magazine for artists. She said the painting was inspired by visits to Phyllis' Beauty Shop, off Cosby Highway, and knowing how women have dreams of what great changes occur from a single visit to a beauty shop. Other paintings include bears, birds, and glimpses of local wildlife.
Other sources of inspiration include local craftspeople. She collects quilts, and she said the colors and images in the handmade creations have helped with paintings.  She recalled returning home from an art workshop and stopping at a flea market in South Carolina where she saw a brightly colored quilt made from pieces of dresses, curtains, and other items.
"Nothing in this quilt matched, but to me, it was beautiful," she recalled. "The elderly lady at the table rubbed her hand across the quilt and told me she had tied all the knots herself, and I told her she had sold that quilt. That quilt has been a source of inspiration for paintings for me."
"I want people to realize the importance of art on all levelsÐÐwriting, music, carpenters, quilters, people who do stone work--they are all artists who deserve to be praised and recognized," she added.
Beam and her husband, Don, have been married 58 years. He was a designer for National Cash Register and enjoys retirement making woodcarvings. He also accompanies Mary to many of the workshops she teaches.
Both of Beam's books are available for purchase at most booksellers, online and at Arrowmont. Beam's studio is open by appointment. All paintings are originals, she doesn't sell prints.
For more information about Beam, visit her Web site at www.marytoddbeam.com.