Tales of a Scenic Artist and Scholar: Paint Therapy 2025
We all have ways to deal with stress; mine is painting. Not for work, not commissions, not as gifts, but painting just for me. In 2020, I battled depression by painting a scene each day for 56 days straight – called Quarantine Travels. This series was followed by Colors of Colorado and then Mountains of Rock. I also focussed on family favorites in 2022, with western landscapes and our cabin. I have now painted hundreds of acrylic paintings that range in size from 4×6 to 24×36.
I again find myself struggling to hang on to hope. Most days it feels like swimming with a boulder in my arms; no matter how hard you tread water, you continue to sink .
In January, I started a series of small paintings that chronicled my drive with Mike Hume and Grit Eckert through the Yorkshire Dales and Brecon Beacons. Our drive from Newcastle-upon-Tyne to Settle was absolutely stunning. Narrow and winding roads bordered by stone walls. Sunlit hills dotted with sheep in the afternoon sun was absolutely magical. Here are my first twenty paintings created between January 9 and March 30, 2025. None of them took more than a few hours to paint. I often worked on multiples. I am now painting on 16″x20″ canvases, capturing scenes from the Brecon Beacons and elsewhere in the UK. More paintings will be added to this post as I progress in the series.
I snuck in time to paint at home…finding a few minutes here and there between designing, scenic art, opening a show, caregiving, ER/hospital/TCU visits, conferences, workshops, writing, my husband’s studio class, planning our son’s Eagle Scout Ceremony, and celebrating our son’s first performance in a high school musical. I look back and wonder how we managed to juggle everything these past few months. I can say that life was never dull, tears were shed, and painting provided me with a brief respite and opportunity to re-center myself.
My personal artworks are seldom about the end product; it is solely about the process. I get to escape for a few minutes, or few hours, to relive a moment where I was incredibly happy, studying small details that I may have missed at the time. For me, painting is a way to not only remember but also to savor a particular moment in time.
Here are my 8×10 paintings, all done in Golden Liquid Acrylics. Titles will be added when the series is compeleted.
8×10 Acrylic Painting by Wendy Waszut-Barrett8×10 Acrylic Painting by Wendy Waszut-Barrett8×10 Acrylic Painting by Wendy Waszut-Barrett8×10 Acrylic Painting by Wendy Waszut-Barrett8×10 Acrylic Painting by Wendy Waszut-Barrett8×10 Acrylic Painting by Wendy Waszut-Barrett8×10 Acrylic Painting by Wendy Waszut-Barrett8×10 Acrylic Painting by Wendy Waszut-Barrett8×10 Acrylic Painting by Wendy Waszut-Barrett8×10 Acrylic Painting by Wendy Waszut-Barrett8×10 Acrylic Painting by Wendy Waszut-Barrett8×10 Acrylic Painting by Wendy Waszut-Barrett8×10 Acrylic Painting by Wendy Waszut-Barrett8×10 Acrylic Painting by Wendy Waszut-Barrett. Best angle I could get for this one.8×10 Acrylic Painting by Wendy Waszut-Barrett8×10 Acrylic Painting by Wendy Waszut-Barrett8×10 Acrylic Painting by Wendy Waszut-Barrett8×10 Acrylic Painting by Wendy Waszut-Barrett8×10 Acrylic Painting by Wendy Waszut-Barrett8×10 Acrylic Painting by Wendy Waszut-Barrett8×10 Acrylic Painting by Wendy Waszut-Barrett8×10 Acrylic Painting by Wendy Waszut-BarrettThe start of my next 16×20 painting from our drive through the Brecon Beacons, Wales. Acrylic Painting by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
To be continued…
Author: waszut_barrett@me.com
Wendy Rae Waszut-Barrett, PhD, is an author, artist, and historian, specializing in painted settings for opera houses, vaudeville theaters, social halls, cinemas, and other entertainment venues. For over thirty years, her passion has remained the preservation of theatrical heritage, restoration of historic backdrops, and the training of scenic artists in lost painting techniques. In addition to evaluating, restoring, and replicating historic scenes, Waszut-Barrett also writes about forgotten scenic art techniques and theatre manufacturers. Recent publications include the The Santa Fe Scottish Rite Temple: Freemasonry, Architecture and Theatre (Museum of New Mexico Press, 2018), as well as articles for Theatre Historical Society of America’s Marquee, InitiativeTheatre Museum Berlin’s Die Vierte Wand, and various Masonic publications such as Scottish Rite Journal, Heredom and Plumbline. Dr. Waszut-Barrett is the founder and president of Historic Stage Services, LLC, a company specializing in historic stages and how to make them work for today’s needs. Although her primary focus remains on the past, she continues to work as a contemporary scene designer for theatre and opera.
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One thought on “Tales of a Scenic Artist and Scholar: Paint Therapy 2025”
Painting for you is like writing for me. It is an outlet that causes you to appreciate and dismiss in a way the things we have no ability to change although they change us. Beautiful work or therapy depending on the day, hour, or minute.
Painting for you is like writing for me. It is an outlet that causes you to appreciate and dismiss in a way the things we have no ability to change although they change us. Beautiful work or therapy depending on the day, hour, or minute.