While primarily an abstract artist, her paintings often incorporate words and symbols representing philosophical concepts shared by people of different cultural world views.
Her brother, Bruce Ames, is a professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, and a senior scientist at Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI).
Her expressionist paintings are rich with texture built with layers of thin acrylic washes, impasto text, and collaged paper.
[2] Moreover, the Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique and Carol Christ's Diving Deep and Surfacing: Women Writers on Spiritual Quests influenced Swartz's incorporation of feminist discourse to explore the historical context of female empowerment, such as in her Israel Revisited series.
[3] According to Swartz, she uses words and visual elements from various religious and philosophical systems (Native American Healing practices, Buddhism, Jewish Mysticism, Christianity) “in order to facilitate communication with viewers on both the conscious and unconscious level."
Watts advised that “faith has no preconceptions; it is a plunge into the unknown.” He advocated the Zen notion that freedom from anxieties and insecurities can be achieved by keeping focused on the present.
you realize that you live in, that indeed you are this moment now, and no other, that apart from this there is no past and no future, you must relax and taste to the full, whether it be pleasure or pain.” Inspired by Watts, Swartz began practicing meditation.
[6] Israel Revisited is a series of works and a conceptual project that originated as an exhibition at the Jewish Museum in New York and then traveled throughout the United States from September 1981 to December 1983.
In regards to her artistic and spiritual journey in Israel, Swartz revealed that it was a personal quest in gaining “dignity and continuity” from the earth after the alienation she had experienced in the city environment.
Each of the paintings is made with metal leaf, crushed crystals, and micro-glitter to give its surfaces a reflective quality in reference to the radiance of the chakra energies.
[13][page needed] A Moving Point of Balance was reinstalled at the Walter Art Gallery in Scottsdale on March 1-March 30, 2015, and was featured in the documentary film Beth Ames Swartz: Reminders of Invisible Light.
[14] In response to her mother's heart attack, Swartz created her Celestial Visitations series, consisting of fifteen paintings with the figure of an angel.
Ideas from Rupert Sheldrake, Alice Bailey, Jean Houston, T. S. Eliot, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism permeate this series.
[15] The Thirteenth Moon series of paintings was inspired by the poetry of the eighth century Chinese poets Du Fu and Li Bai.
In pairing poetry with paintings, Swartz sought to heighten the meaning of each one through the marriage of the visual and the written word, which emanates spiritual awareness and emotional depth.
[20] The 28-minute, documentary film, Reminders of Invisible Light, chronicles Swartz's life and work with the aim of encouraging others to reflect on their own personal and spiritual value.
Featuring interviews with Swartz and close ups of her paintings and her time in the studio, the documentary film focuses on Beth's perseverance in overcoming a difficult childhood and building a successful career as an artist.