Issue 1 Artist Spotlight | Robin Wessman
C+B: Tell us about yourself!
RW: I am a full-time artist painting landscapes, people and still lifes in oils. Inspiration comes from the community where I live, which is the outer region of Cape Cod. The area is comprised of dunes and beaches in the National Seashore and several small waterfront communities including Provincetown which is the oldest artists community in the US. My paintings are realistic and combine technical craftsmanship with emotion and imagination. As a realist painter, I paint a variety of subjects that I find interesting and also have the potential for a shared experience with viewers.
C+B: What’s one quote that inspires you or informs your work?
RW: “Practice what you know and it will help you to make clear what you do not know.”― Rembrandt
Rembrandt is an excellent example of what it means to have a good work ethic. It is important to show up every day and do your work, even on days when you are not feeling inspired to pick up a brush, do it anyway. Creative breakthroughs show up after hours, days, weeks, months, years and sometimes a lifetime of mastering your craft. Being creative requires the constant routine of using what you know daily to master it, then learning what more is needed to make your work even better. It’s a constant learning process that never ends.
Ideal creative retreat: This one I actually have a very fitting quote. “My idea of heaven, is to wake up, have a good breakfast, and spend the rest of the day drawing.” Peter Falk. That’s a pretty good description of how I would want my ideal creative retreat to be structured. To build on that, I would like to spend at least a month in a foreign country where I would have a studio with 15-20 other experienced artists from different backgrounds. It would be at a time when the weather is warm and sunny, that would allow for outdoor trips to paint plein air. In the studio we would get to paint whatever we want and meet up at a set time each day to discuss our work. Maybe there would be a couple days each week where we would have a model pose and the entire group would paint together. Evenings would be spent socializing with the other artists around a dinner table.
Currently inspired by: Daniel Sprick (@sprickdaniel)– Current figurative and still life artist painting in the realist tradition. • Joseph McGurl (@josephmcgurl)- Current landscape and seascape artist painting in the realist tradition.
C+B: What are your long-term goals for creating, Robin?
RW: Long term goals include continuing to improve my skills as an artist and creating paintings that impact people in a positive way. It is so important to keep learning and growing as an artist. Whether it’s technique, style, materials, subject matter, or even what you want to communicate in your paintings as a visual artist. That includes keeping an open mind, experimenting and putting into practice what I’ve learned. I would also like to get back to teaching and helping others develop their creative skills. There are so many things an individual can learn that will help them become a skilled artist. The sooner someone can learn the necessary skills to paint with confidence, the sooner they will be able to create paintings that fulfill their desire to express themselves effectively.