Wendy Westlake
- 21 hours ago
- 3 min read
Wendy Westlake is an American abstract painter based in Zumbrota, Minnesota. She spent years in watercolor and served as president of the Minnesota Watercolor Society, and then moved to large-scale acrylics. She wanted to stand in front of a finished painting and feel surrounded by it, not just give it a polite look. She starts with thin, watery washes and works up in layers to more solid color. Westlake calls every painting a portrait or a self-portrait, most of them coming from observing people. She keeps coming back to Rothko's color fields.
Q: You spent years deep in watercolor before moving to large-scale acrylics. What made you want to work bigger?
A: I think the desire to work on larger scale pieces came from wanting the experience of making my work and viewing my work to be more immersive rather than a polite viewing. Most watercolors are 22 x 30 or smaller. I wanted to be able to stand in front of a finished work and feel encompassed by it.
Q: How does a piece begin for you?
A: Sometimes I want to explore a concept like "boldness" or "empathy." I may see a sketch in one of my notebooks and decide there's an idea worth exploring further. I'm most often inspired by color and color combinations.
I'm addicted to the dialogue that colors have with one another. Sometimes inspiration comes from being in a place that made a deep impression on me. A few years ago we hiked all over Iceland and those intense greens, blacks and whites are still with me.
Q: What kind of "what if" questions do you ask yourself while you're working?
A: Most of the time the What if questions are composition-based, like: What if this color gets pushed warmer or cooler? What if this shape gets rotated or expanded? Sometimes the questions are broader and encompass the entire feeling of the piece: What if I covered the whole painting with a thin glaze of white? How would that change this painting? Would the painting feel calmer, more peaceful?
Q: You think of every painting as either a portrait or a self-portrait. Who's in them?
A: I watch and analyze people. Very often my paintings are born out of my observations and interactions with people.
Sometimes I'll encounter a character, either in real life or in a book, and be inspired to make a painting based on that person or an aspect of their personality. A few years ago I stumbled upon the book, The Romance of Devotion, and it was full of extreme personalities like Pauline Bonaparte, who, dressed in green velvet and adorned with diamonds, arrived at Josephine's palace intent on making an absolutely devastating impression. Apparently it didn't go as she'd planned because Josephine had intentionally painted her drawing room in a blue color that "killed" the effect of Pauline's gown. I made a deep green painting with touches of blue as an ode to Pauline.
Q: You keep coming back to Rothko's color fields and Marca-Relli's collages. What keeps you there?
A: Rothko was such a master of color combinations that were both subtle and powerful. He was able to make colors vibrate with energy.
Similarly, Marca-Relli's collages are built from somewhat simple yet powerful shapes. I'm also drawn to the textural quality of the collaged materials he chose.
Q: What's happening in the Zumbrota studio these days?
A: I just finished filming an art tutorial course in collaboration with Arteway. That was an interesting experience having a film crew in my studio for three days. I've also been experimenting with collage materials: painting on mulberry paper and incorporating Kozo paper elements into my work.
