Stephen
Wessells

THE PAINTING PROCESS

Stephen’s studio in Las Vegas is, in his own words, a modest one, but the work that comes out of it is anything but. He paints large whenever he can. A big canvas gives him room to move, and the paintings that follow are loose, lively and driven by what he calls instincts, impulse and experience. There is no rigid plan at the start. A canvas goes down, and the paint goes on in whatever way the moment calls for: poured, dripped, splashed, sprayed, then scraped back or brushed over. Sometimes he spreads it thick, like frosting on a cake. He works with conventional brushes, but just as often with pouring containers, rags, toothbrushes and his own bare hands, and a palette knife is never far away. That variety is what gives his surfaces their energy, with layers that can read as dramatic in one corner and quiet in the next. Years behind a documentary camera taught him to work spontaneously and, more importantly, to know when to stop. He trusts his eye for composition to tell him when a painting holds together and when it is finished. He leaves the meaning open to the viewer, and he is happy for people to see something different in each one. For Stephen, the process itself matters as much as the result. Painting taps into his deepest thoughts and memories, and he calls it “wonderful therapy for modern life.” When a piece leaves the studio, his hope is simple: that it brings a dull wall to life with design and color.