Category: Waszut-Barrett Easel Art

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.

To be continued…

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…

I continue to revisit some favorite locations with my brush. My previous painting series “Quarantine Travels” and “Colors of Colorado” helped me weather quite a few challenges in 2020.

Here is a new series featuring scenes from the Canadian Rocky Mountains. I will continue to post each completed painting to the series until I am ready to journey elsewhere.

The Canadian Rockies: Johnston Creek Waterfall. 16” x 20” acrylic painting by Wendy Rae Waszut-Barrett.

The Canadian Rockies: Lake Louise. 16” x 20” acrylic painting by Wendy Rae Waszut-Barrett.

In a world of limited travel and social distancing, I find myself revisiting favorite locations with my brush; painting is a means of escape for me. My previous series “Quarantine Travels” helped me weather the first wave of COVID 19 from April 28-June 19, 2020.

Here is a new series about Colorado that will hopefully do the same as numbers continue to increase across the country. I will post each completed painting in the series to this page.

This series of thirty-five paintings was completed on February 21, 2021.

Here is a link to my previous series “Quarantine Travels” –

Travels of a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Quarantine Travels.

Here is a link to my current series “Mountains of Rock” –

Mountains of Rock: Scenes of the Canadian Rockies.

Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett

On April 28, 2020, I decided to take a few hours for myself to paint. We were in the midst of “sheltering in place” and I needed to do something to make me feel truly happy. As with most people, much of my work had vanished overnight and was I was becoming increasingly depressed. As each day dragged on, there was no end in sight and I wondered if we would ever meet all of the bills. Although I write a daily blog, even that was not helping draw me out of my depression.

What became one painting, became one painting every day. All of my paintings were done in Golden liquid acrylics and ranged in size from 8″ x 10″ to 16″ x 20″.

I call them my “Quarantine Travels.” They are my daily escape from the reality of COVID-19. Each day I revisit one of the favorite locations that I have photographed over the years.

I am not done with the series, but decided to share my progress. Each day I post a final painting with process photos to my Facebook Page “Wendy Rae Waszut-Barrett.” This post is then shared to my Facebook Group “Dry Pigment.” I will periodically update this post to add new compositions.

Here is what has helps me weather the Coronavirus Storm:

I conclude the series with the painting “In the Weeds” on June 19, 2020. Some of my happiest memories of my childhood were swimming at my parents’ cabin on Lower Sylvan Lake near Pillager, Minnesota. At the time, it was one of the clearest lakes in the state, spring fed. Because of the water clarity, I could swim without goggles and look at fish and the aquatic jungle below the surface. Weeds never bothered me as they were so beautiful underwater. The sunlight that filters through water has always been magical for me.

This concludes my painting series of “Quarantine Travels.” I will still keep painting, but start a new series. While snatching a few hours each day to paint, my companions were Minnesota Public Radio Classical and Gov. Cuomo’s daily press briefing. It seemed an appropriate conclusion to my series as today signals the end to many things.

Stay safe!

I ended up starting two other series after this one. Here is the link to “Colors of Colorado” and “Mountains of Rock.”

Colors of Colorado

Mountains of Rock: Scenes of the Canadian Rockies.