Wendell Myers

Artist Statement

As a former potter, I am very interested in the spontaneous, the uncontrolled, the ‘happy accident.’  As a student and fan of Jazz, I am intrigued and thrilled by improvisation, by the great things that happen when self criticism, self doubt and fear are banished, and emotion, heart and creativity are given free rein.

I really enjoy the immediacy of painting; act now, get results now, and what you see is what you get. However, some of the concepts which were important to me as a potter definitely play a role in what I do now as a painter.  In working with clay and glazes, and the variable atmosphere of the kiln, there is much that one can influence, but not really control.  There is a sense in which one is both performer and audience; you act, observe the results of your actions, and react to those results.  I enjoy painting in this same spontaneous, improvisational way;  apply color to the surface, see what happens, respond with more color, see what emerges, and react to that.  I think it is much like jazz; listening, reacting and playing simultaneously, so that what emerges is influencedby each musician, but never under total control. Often, the unexpected results are the most expressive and most enjoyable.

My paintings are abstract landscapes, based on memories of the places I have lived in and visited; the great plains, north woods and lake country of my youth, the Carolina mountains and seascapes of my adult life, and the desert Southwest where I have frequently vacationed. 

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Artist Bio

Wendell Myers is a creative soul from way back.  He first entered the public eye as bass guitarist for the noted Central Wisconsin blues/country-rock foursome “Cambridge.”  After several years of playing clubs, high school dances and backyard cookouts, he took the fateful step of leaving the band to attend art school, earning a BFA from Peck School of the Arts at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.  He spent the next years as a professional studio potter, first in Milwaukee, and then in Rochester, New York, selling directly to the public out of his studio and at art fairs and shows in the Midwest and Northeast, and through shops and galleries in Wisconsin, New York and Kansas City.  He accompanied his wife to Minnesota when she joined the music faculty at Winona State University.  The couple eventually relocated to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where Wendell turned to painting, working in acrylics.  He continues playing guitar in his spare time, especially focusing on jazz and blues.

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