Tales of a Scenic Artist and Scholar: Painting in 2022

Copyright © 2024 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett

This post is a few years overdue.

On April 28, 2020, I decided to take a few hours to paint. We were in the midst of “sheltering in place” and I needed to do something that truly made me happy. Little did I know that I was embarking on an artistic journey. It had been years since I painted anything for myself; just myself, and something that wasn’t commissioned or part of a production.

What started out as one painting, became one painting every day between April 28 and June 19, 2020. This first series was entitled “Quarantine Travels.” and consisted of 55 painting of scenes from my favorite trips. One painting a day, and a composition that typically took 2-4 hours to paint.

All of my paintings were done in Golden liquid acrylics and ranged in size from 5″ x 7″ to 16″ x 20″. Two more series followed between 2020 and 2021:

“Colors of Colorado”- 35 paintings

“Mountains of Rock: Scenes of the Canadian Rockies” – 22 paintings.

There were many more paintings that I completed beyond these three series, but I didn’t publicly share them to this blog of FB. I continued to work in Golden Acrylics, as I really liked the medium. Previously, I favored watercolors, gouache, and pastels. Oil painting had come and gone, as I can no longer handle the smell (chemical poisoning)

What I most liked about acrylics was how fast everything dried. The transparent nature of many colors also helped me develop a series of glazing techniques that helped with atmospheric effects. Now I tend to work on multiples, usually 4-5 paintings at a time. When I begin to feel frustrated with anything, a set the painting down and start working on another. It also helps with mixing colors, as I can share the same color from one painting to the next.

In the end, I fell in love with the entire process. Although I was pleased with the results, the greatest joy came from revisiting some of my favorite places. I would turn on classical music and start reminiscing. For a few hours I would live in the past, recalling time spent with family and friends.

I also began to realize that alternating my painting with my research/writing improved the quality of both. Switching back and forth between right-brain and left-brain activities really works for me.

Up through 2021, I not only posted individual paintings to FB, but also the entire process from start to finish. Sometimes, I created time-lapse videos of my process. I was doing the same thing for some of my large-scale projects, such as scenic art for the Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company’s “Pirates of Penzance” (3 min. 46s) and “The Sorcerer” (5 min. 40s).

When life accelerates to a frantic pace and I start to feel like I am drowning, I take an hour to paint for myself. The process pulls me out of the proverbial black hole. It evens lowers my anxiety (and blood pressure) when I feel that a panic attack is building. I have an inkling that the next four years may be the most prolific period of my career.

I recently started a series from my most recent trip to the UK, one that includes the Yorkshire Dales and Brecon Beacons.

In addition to finding joy with revisiting some of my favorite locations at home and abroad, I also share my paintings with friends and family – a rotating gallery.

In 2022, I took the opportunity to create a series of 10×20 to encircle my parent’s dining room and decorate a family room wall.

And then I continued to decorate my parent’s home with several other paintings.

I also did three commissions in 2022. The following were for the Haymarket Opera Company (Chicago, Illinois) to use for their upcoming season.

To be continued…