With a percolating intensity and vivid energy that rivals her work, Beardsley is getting ready for her show "Lovers and Other Strangers" at Gallery Saratoga, which opens Feb. 1. With only a week left and a handful of projects to finish, she has a limited amount of time for rumination and doubt before the show opens.

"I never thought I'd show any of my art publicly," she says matter-of-factly. "It's very personal."

Fear does not seem like a preeminent factor in Beardsley's life. Unlike many people, Beardsley never felt inhibited about pursuing her dreams. Whether it was her post-college move from New York to California * which included doing migrant work to pay for the trip * working for Francis Ford Coppolla in Hollywood or moving to the Bay Area to pursue a dream of creating art, Beardsley remained focused and unabashed.

"It's about breaking the creative confines of what we live in," she says. "As soon as you say you can't do something, well, I just feel sorry for you."

As Beardsley attempts to find the "a-ha factor" in her own work of multimedia graphic art, she is also forging a multimedia life.

A regular actor on TV commercials, Beardsley, 50, is also the mother of two and is pursuing the launch of a comprehensive, savvy search engine devoted to teen issues. She is also in the process of attaining a credential that will allow her to teach art classes.

"Doing commercials has been great. It offsets much of the cost of being an artist," she says. "I really like that it can allow me to pursue other interests that don't pay very well, because teaching and art are so inspiring."

A self-taught artist, Beardsley is intent on helping youth "see out of the box." She currently teaches classes at the Triton Art Museum and San José State University, where her work has been shown.

Explaining the origin of her desire to teach, she says, "Having children has been an amazing process. They are creative and inspiring—I am at the will of their intensity. It's like they are little flowers that I'm watering. And that's how I feel when teaching kids at school as well."

Between classes and commercials, Beardsley has been working fiercely on her work to be shown at Gallery Saratoga. "Having a show is a great motivator," she says with a laugh. Her studio is also her home—a lush dwelling in the Saratoga hills.

Photograph by George Sakkestad Saratoga artist Argyle Beardsley challenges the confines of conventional art by breaking a mirror to use in her upcoming show.

Using hands-on methods and materials with computer manipulation and printing, Beardsley and Kurtyka have been expanding each other's vision.

"I totally enjoy working with someone else," Beardsley says, "particularly because I am not at all book learned. He is always introducing me to theories, and it's also good to have someone to bounce things off of."

The two have largely focused on making masks, which they create with molding clay and acrylic glue and then layer with fabrics, paint and small trinkets. With the theme "Lovers and Other Strangers," Beardsley is tackling jealousy and greed head-on with her masks. "Jealousy is the unraveling of everything," she says. "By looking straight into these jealousy masks, people can see themselves upfront."

The theme of the show has not been easy for Beardsley, as it was a direct result of an event in her own life—falling in love with Kurtyka.

Although she acknowledges the joy of new love, forging the relationship was a challenge for her. "It was scary for me because of my age, my idea of romantic love and the memories of all my experiences. To fall in love again is like a death ... you have to give up preconceived notions of what it will be and ask, 'What is love? What does it mean to me?' "

Although it has been difficult at times, Beardsley—who has been married before—believes falling in love again has been "a cleansing process," as it is a matter of "learning to forgive someone for the changes they made. It is something to make you grateful you are alive."

Despite being busy with the show, Beardsley is up and running on new ideas for the future. She wants to stay in Saratoga (it's the greenery) and is considering a mobile art business in addition to teaching.

"I love to paint things * the environment, murals ... there is a huge gamut of things that I am capable of doing," she says. "It's just a matter of whether I put that together to teach classes or lead workshops to drum up ideas—I know my place is at the interface of creativity and the viewer."

'Lovers and Other Strangers' will be on display Feb. 1­28. A special wine and chocolate reception will be held Feb. 8 from 2 to 6 p.m.