Featured Artist Wendy Gordin

Enjoy this collection of artist Wendy Gordin’s contemporary oil paintings that capture moments in life. Visit her website to see more of her work.

 

 

I wish that I had discovered oil painting much sooner than I did.

 

 

Painting really was a mid-life crisis for me, but once I got started, I made up for a lot of lost time.

 

 

I began studying at the California Art Institute in Westlake Village, California. I studied portraiture and figure drawing and painting, working from life. It’s amazing how once you begin painting you notice color and light so much more vividly.

 

 

I was hooked. Since then, I have studied with many incredible teachers over the past twenty-two years.

 

 

My favorite subjects to paint are scenes depicting figures who tell a story. I always have a camera at the ready to capture moments that I can then recreate on canvas. I am also attracted to scenes that are washed in sunlight. With those paintings, my subject can be pretty much anything.

 

 

I have recently built an art studio on our property, which is on the top of a hill in the middle of a lemon grove. Being in my studio painting with my three dogs by my side is my idea of heaven.

 

 

I hold workshops where I teach, as well as bringing in other teachers. I love the camaraderie of small groups painting together. You learn so much from each other, and are inspired and encouraged to push each other to a new level.

 

 

Painting should be enjoyable. It’s unfortunate that so many artists lose their voice trying to paint like someone else. I encourage my students to learn the basic skills of paint mixing, value and composition, but then to paint what inspires them. Without that inspiration, their painting will be just another painting.

 

 

I have been the president of the Westlake Village Art Guild for the past two years. I feel it’s very important to enhance the vitality of the arts in our community. We are involved in several shows a year. One is for high school juniors and seniors. Scholarships are offered to award-winning students who want to pursue a college education in the arts.

 

 

If you can start painting earlier in life than I did, you have that many more years of enjoyment. Get going!

Artist Wendy Gordin invites you to follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

 

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