Wendy Weldon is moving from her house into her studio for the summer. Like her paintings that will appear in her up-coming show, "Barn Elements," at Shaw Cramer Gallery, she is in transition.
Wendy Weldon in her Chilmark studio. Photo by Susan Safford
Despite the chaos that moving even a few hundred yards can cause, Ms. Weldon's energy and enthusiasm for change is boundless. "I am having the best time in my studio in years," she says.
Turning to a stack of neatly matted monotypes on a cluttered worktable, Ms. Weldon proudly begins holding them up. They are among her new works for the show which will open the Vineyard Haven gallery's summer season.
Her iconic barn theme is present, but the roof, sky and earth merge to create more abstract images. The colors in the monotypes are relatively soft compared to the bold and robust colors of the canvas paintings that are stacked against the wall.
"They are not simply monotype prints," Ms. Weldon says, explaining that the surface is manipulated with paint and with her trademark use of gold leaf. They are mixed media works with the quality of texture that she adds to her paintings through sanding and layering.
"Flying" a mixed media painting. Photo courtesy Shaw Cramer Gallery
Ms. Weldon points to a large barn painting propped up against the wall. She then pulls out a print and brings it to the painting it inspired. "What's so amazing is that some of these monotypes translate into paintings," she says. "Something happens in the transition."
An alchemist through whom the pastel sky of the print turns into a fiery red sunset on canvas and whose touch turns the calm blue sea into a lively cerulean, Ms. Weldon marvels at the magic in the transition. "See the little barn in the corner of the canvas?" she asks. "It just showed up - go figure."
Most artists accept the idea that their work takes on a life of its own, and Wendy Weldon is no exception. "There are voices in my paintings. What's great about being an artist is that it all goes through you. You get the messages of what to do. The whole idea is to be more abstract.
"I began as an abstract, non-objective painter in the late 60s, concentrating mostly on color field," Ms. Weldon says, recalling her years at Bard College. Even today, the depth of color on her large canvases suggests the artist who greatly influenced her. "At 16 years old, I went into the chapel of Rothko in the old Tate Museum in London and fell on my knees. It was a spiritual experience."
Abstraction, according to Ms. Weldon, allows for the unknown or mystery to always be present. While in California in the 80s and enjoying great gallery success with her abstract paintings, she discovered the use of mixed metal, and gold and copper leaf, which continues to glow on her barn roofs today.
"A reflective metallic surface creates more mystery," she explains. "It's a surface that gives so much dimension and changes."
To demonstrate, she reaches for the light switch and turns it off. The gold leaf rooftop on the barn in the nearby painting takes on another quality of light. "Real gold leaf is so luscious and luminous, you can swim in it," she says.
In her new work, Ms. Weldon shows the transformations that take place through the mediums, from paper sketches to monotype/mixed media to canvas paintings. "It's a whole new approach," she announces gleefully. Of the three, the sketches on paper are the most abstract. She says she feels freer working on paper, and that she is fascinated by the way the paper curls and wrinkles, the way it accepts and sometimes rejects layers of paint, gel, and varnish. For her, it is a medium both sensitive and alive.
For this show, Ms. Weldon decided to draw what she paints and to see what happens. "There are different elements which emerge when you go from paper sketches to monotypes to canvas," she says.
For the viewer, it is difficult to see which piece inspired which, but discovering the line, the angle or the burst of color in a sketch that shows up in the monotype and gets expanded on canvas is a little like a treasure hunt with rewards at each stop.
It is with a sense of seeming wonder that Ms. Weldon looks across the span of her work hanging and leaning against the studio wall. She is reminded of the beginning of her career. "They used to yell at me at Bard; 'Where's your original idea? You can't paint like this.'"
To which the formidable Ms. Weldon replied, "But this is who I am."
"Barn Elements" opens Friday, June 26, at Shaw Cramer Gallery, 56 Main St., Vineyard Haven. The summer season opening reception celebrates the gallery's 15 years in business. 508-696-7323.
Barbara Case-Senchak is a freelance writer living in West Tisbury.
