Artist Statement:

My paintings in this exhibit were created between the fall of 2021 and June 2022.

In the fall, I was responding to the chaos during the pandemic. Everything felt upside down. I searched for a sense of peace. The pastel hues felt comforting. They were challenging to use as I historically gravitate towards very bright colors.

Many issues have heated up since February 2022- the war in Ukraine, the intense battle for women’s rights and the global environmental collapse to name some. I am no longer searching for calmness in the work. I am embracing the chaos, tempering it, allowing for its visibility. Accepting the discordance brought a different energy to my work.

There are moments when I found a resting place reflected in the painting. Or when I was agitated, the painting reflected that uneasiness. And then with a change of energy, the agitation gets quieted or the calmness may be disturbed. These elements played themselves out in the paintings.

When I believe that there are simple solutions in my work, I immediately I know that I am wrong. Complexity, although confusing, is the answer every time. I want spaces cleaner and simpler but it is the layers that provide meaning. I apply paint, then I sand it, apply more paint and maybe sand again. Sanding reveals the layers of color underneath which gives the work transparency and texture. These areas contrast to the opacity of the thicker flatter paint in the un-sanded areas.

The viewers may find some pieces tranquil and other paintings tumultuous. Many paintings are a combination. My hope is that the viewers are visually stimulated and that they see my paintings differently each time they view them. My paintings ask questions. They don’t provide answers.

Artist Bio:

Wendy Weldon began playing with paint as a young girl in her mother's art studio on a farm in Indiana.

She studied art at Bard College, Silvermine College of Art, Santa Rosa Junior College and the Boston Museum School.

Wendy has been painting as a professional artist for over forty years and knew in the beginning that her strength was with color. For many years Wendy's paintings were primarily color-field. There were architectural hints of doors and windows, mysterious spaces left unexplored for the most part. Then she explored those areas with more focus. The paintings were more personal and specific. The palette changed. There was more structure and less mystery. She was fascinated by artifacts, religious icons and unusual stones.

Her collection of these objects continue to appear in her paintings from time to time. From rectangular and circular shapes, to beds and lamps, stairs and lintels, personal imagery, her work now includes, stones in land and sea walls, barns of all sizes, and birds and leaves. The images may change but the intensity of the color remains constant. She documents journeys and events, honors lost friends, and explores relationships between interior and exterior spaces, both physical and emotional.

She spends her days painting in her art studio in Chilmark, Massachusetts with her dogs as her constant companions.