About Wendy
Hi, I'm Wendy. As the youngest child of an artist/sculptor/carpenter father and a photographer/journalist mother, the creative impulse was ingrained from the start. Architecture provided a very satisfying outlet (and a roof over my head) for many many years, for which I'm exceedingly grateful.
But Fine Art always called my name. I’m now a full time artist. I paint what makes me feel something, deep in my soul. I paint to make you feel it too.
Other Tidbits:
- I mostly use non-brush tools - silicone tools, putty knives, palette knives…. I love the way I can push the paint around and get it to tell my story.
- I make my own panels and my own frames. It gives me control (time, aesthetic...) and I just like making stuff. Plus I think it’s greener.
- I typically donate 10% of my gross to local food banks - the NH Food Bank and Good Shepherd in Maine. "Art feeds the soul. The body runs on food."
Education
Architecture:
Boston Architectural College - 2 years, a very very very long time ago
Pratt Institute - completed my Bachelor of Architecture, still a long time ago.
I eventually started Art Form Architecture, which I owned and ran for 25 years. It's now mostly owned and totally run by three fabulous women named Holly, Allison & Rachel. I'm "emeritus", which means I weigh in on issues of importance, and then go back to painting.
Fine Art:
I started taking workshops in 2016, making deliberate choices for what I needed to learn next.
- Robert Chapla was my first teacher. He taught me to play and be free.
- Todd Bonita was my first oil painting teacher. He taught me to be disciplined. But he also saw where my heart lies as a painter and sent me to:
- Chris Volpe, who got me started with Plein Air, with being intuitive and with palette knives.
- In 2019 I took three targeted "away mission" workshops to drill down on value structure (Charlie Hunter), color and color temperature (Patrick Saunders) and composition (Douglas Fryer).
From there I kept taking workshops with the best I could find. I went back to Douglas Fryer four more times, because he's awesome and my painting kept improving. I went to Michigan for Patrick Lee, California for Aimee Erickson, did some on-line with Stuart Shils... If you look these artists up, you'll start to understand my learning path.
Now I'm back studying with the most unlikely - Todd Bonita. He's a very tight painter, and I'm very much not. But on a retreat with his group I realized he's the best mentor for me. He's pushing me to be more me. I feel like I keep getting better, so I'll stay with that!
