Meet Wendy West of Southwest

Today we’d like to introduce you to Wendy West

Hi Wendy, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
It turns out that sometimes you really can *go home again*.

I was born in Denver but grew up in the Philadelphia burbs after my engineer dad and musician mom, both CU grads, were shipped east for my dad’s work. Dreams of the Colorado sky and landscape are in my genes, so many years later, after a series of very tough losses, I took an early retirement from teaching art, and came back to where I started.

Who knows what comes first, inspiration, perception or creation? I do know I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t making art of some kind, from crayon drawings and little clay animals
to plein air landscapes, portraits of family and neighbors and figure studies
from life.

Have you ever had a book, a story, or a message find you instead of the other way around? Walking along the South Platte River one day not long after moving back to Denver, I wandered into conversation with a woman who, like me, was working through some profound changes in her life circumstances. After we’d talked for while over our Nixon’s coffees, she insisted I must read The Artisan Soul, by Erwin Rafael McManus. Which was exactly right; that book was for me.

In short, McManus convinced me of the radical idea that my very life’s journey is a work of art in progress. That each of us human beings gets a crack every day at actually being part of the unfolding of Creation.

Seeing life this way has freed me to look at my art, my faith and my life experiences as one canvas. When I create a series of collages or help plan an activity for others in my faith community or nurture a new friendship or an old one, I am painting the masterpiece of my life — guided by a power greater than myself, God as my Walking Companion and Artistic Director, on call 24/7.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There’s no question at all in my mind that I’ve had a privileged life. I’ve worked hard and tried to make the most of the resources and opportunities that came my way, opportunities that simply do not exist for the vast majority of my brothers and sisters on this Earth. But tragedy has also directed and shaped my journey, as a fairly recent widow and a survivor of many family traumas and losses, as well as witnessing the tragedy of others as a resident and teacher in a segregated city. I am humbled and I am motivated, by all of this.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
As is true for many artists I think, my work is bound to reflect my life, in process and in form. I fell in love with oil-painting at twelve when my father, self-described “Sunday painter,” taught me to lay out colors, mix them with turpentine and linseed oil, and apply them to a pre-sketched composition. All these years later the rich, nutty aroma of linseed grounds and thrills me!

These days my painting has merged with collage and mixed-media techniques to allow the layering of images and materials to communicate what has captured my eye and my spirit – a photo of a spectacular canyon panorama, the memory of a loved one’s passing, a moment of peace at sunset.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
I can still feel the freedom and pleasure of laying in the grass on a summer’s day, becoming completely absorbed in the pure blue of the sky and the changing shapes of the clouds. In our house, we called the sunniest, driest, most-perfect days “Colorado days.” What an astonishing thing it is to live in my home
state, under such skies, as a grown-up — still filled with wonder at that endless depth and beauty.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://wendywestart.com
• Instagram: @wendyawest