Robert Wellings- Recent Work

We are always excited to showcase the work of our students and graduates of The Landscape Atelier. This is a guest post by Rob Wellings, a 2015 graduate of The Landscape Atelier and now a teaching assistant. Rob has shown his work in numerous exhibitions this past year and is represented by Williams Fine Art Dealers, Wenham MA and Williamsburg Art Gallery, Williamsburg VA.
It has been a year now since I completed my formal study in The Landscape Atelier drawing and painting program. The year has been exciting and trying as I further explored the questions of painting the landscape.  How to reveal a painting’s search for form and structure? How to leave open possibilities for the viewer to decide? These are some of the questions that now guide me during the making of a painting.
I choose landscape not just to explore my intense encounters with the natural world, but because of its openness as a form of art making. A landscape has so many possibilities that a painter can describe or merely suggest: the light, the weather, the terrain, the season, the mood, etc. When approaching the blank canvas or paper, one’s intuition and imagination has so many doors available to open. As the painting goes on, these become less and a definitive world is formed. Using suggestive mark making, the artist can leave some of the doors ajar. The viewer can decide the time of day, what type of tree that may be, or what the weather is actually doing.  I look forward to another year of difficult problems and potential discoveries.
 As a student of the atelier approach, both in figurative and landscape art, I find the best thing to do after graduation is to stay busy, ask questions, and explore different possibilities toward the making of one’s art.  Below are some examples of work from 2016.