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Now In: Artist Roberta Wesley Biography
Realism is Wesley's forte. Her desire is to communicate with the viewer, to create a human link, to draw out of herself that which will pique an awareness, some emotion, a mood, a mystery, a kindred experience with her viewing partner. And if a single human being can be touched by her work, their response is, indeed , of great consequence, both to her as a person and as an artist. Roberta's work gains strength from her intense desire to reach out and build that ever-important human link.
You will be drawn to her work by the superb lighting and the striking spectrum of her subject matter. Pastoral scenes, gentle rememberences and romantic nostalgia somehow co-exist with waves of rampant elephants and tigers flying through lightning drenched skies. The creative diversity of her portfolio is evidence of the intense enthusiasm that fuels her artistic vision. Roberta is an artist actively exploring and seeking to communicate life's many expressions and viewpoints.
The artist finished her first oil painting at age 12. She was born to rural schoolteachers in Happy, Texas, and grew up in neighboring small towns. She attended three Texas Universities before receiving her degree in art, then returned for futher study at yet another of that state's universities. Long before the world had heard of Roberta Wesley, during her time in Austin at the University of Texas, the artist's career was given a boost from some well-known Texans. Among them, Lady Bird Johson puchased paintings for the Johnson Ranch. And Roberta's most memorable and challenging commission came from Mary Alice Shivers, wife of the former Governor. She asked the artist to paint Governor Shiver's face on a huge egg for the famed Neiamn Marcus' Easter display. "Fun, but not easy!"
In the sixties, Roberta found success in the galleries of Taos, New Mexico, and, soon after, moved to that famous art colony. Since that time she has lived in widely diverse areas of the United States and traveled extensively. As demand for her paintings grew throuth associations with some of the finest galleries across America, she began to understand that success could be both a blessing and a curse. There seemed to be constant pressure to "slightly modify and repaint" the same most popular subjects. She began to feel she was on a "factory assembly line". Although grateful for this long awaited financial security, she longed for the excitement and risk of new creation. What to do?
A solution seemed available through print publishing. This has allowed Roberta freedom to fully develop and detail subjects that interest her, and then move on to the excitement of new inspiration: "In my mind, reproductions allow me to offer less repetitious art, work filled with the energy of new ideas." Roberta Wesley's most beloved images are now available in both canvas and paper editions.
The artist has mastered many different mediums and styles. Her favorite traditional medium is alkyd, unique and especially apropos for this artist in that it is faster-drying than oils and slower-drying than acrylic, allowing the artist to carefully gauge each painting step. Alkyds may also be richly worked in detail while rendering strikingly luminous colors and permitting great play with light.
In the early 90's Roberta began experimenting with the use of a computer in her work. Slowly she began to understand the creative potential of combining this new technology with her mastery of traditional artistic techniques. Roberta's alkyds on canvas now merge in her computer to produce the mixed media of Wesley Prints ™. Her expertise with the computer has allowed her to publish her own work, maintaining the integrity of her artistic vision while translating all the intensiy and power of her ideas to the fine editions she now offers through select galleries.
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