At the intersection of nature and architecture, the paintings of Utah-based artist Justin Wheatley exude tranquility. Working as both an artist and a teacher, his inspiration comes from many sources. 

Tell us about your background. When did you start creating art?

I’ve always been an artist. My earliest memory of creating art was in the back of my second grade classroom with a friend. We worked hard to get the approval of our teacher and she would let us go back there and draw whatever we wanted. I think this was the beginning of my appreciation for art and for teachers. In junior high, I decided I wanted to do both of those things for the rest of my life. Now I create and teach art and I love it.

Can you describe your creative process for us?

One of the most important classes I took in college was basic photography. The class focused on composition and value. I remember looking at a photo that a classmate developed and being shocked at the placement of the focal point at the extreme top of the image. I loved it. Photography continues to be an integral part of my work. I take thousands of photos every year and spend a good amount of time combing through them, looking for interesting compositions that can be cropped from each picture.

When I am ready to start painting, I will scroll through the cropped images and select what I want to paint. The image is mostly used for the structure of the painting’s composition. Once it is sketched on the panel or canvas, I’ll begin filling in areas with colors that I feel work well together. Though structured, the paintings are fairly intuitive as to how the colors fill in the space.

What does a typical day in the studio look like for you?

During the summer, when I can paint full time, I’m in the studio by 9:00 am and there until 4:00 or 5:00 pm. I’ll take a break to eat lunch with my family and then head back to work. I try to keep planning away from the studio so I can focus on painting while I’m there. I’m usually working on at least three paintings at once, rotating them from the studio to the outside patio so they can dry quicker. At the end of the day, I clean up and refill my sour cream container with fresh water for cleaning brushes so it’s ready, and I can get right to work the next morning.

What’s your favorite thing to do when you’re not painting?

I love spending time with my wife and four girls. We are outside as much as we can be. That might just be in the yard or up a canyon. As I consider my day outside the studio, I went for a run, placed flags for flag day in the yards of our neighbors with my oldest daughter, had a critique with an artist friend, played pickle ball, catch, and Boggle with the girls, volunteered with a church youth group, watered the garden, and had a nice chat with my wife about everything. It was a good day.

What do you hope viewers see in your work?

I hope they see something that evokes an emotion that wasn’t there prior to initial viewing. I hope they see a composition that they are not used to. I hope they are intrigued by the use of color. As an artist, it is a privilege to have people take the time to consider my work. They may walk away intrigued or bewildered. Those are both responses that I accept and appreciate.

Is there anything else you would like to share with us?

I teach high school art at an alternative high school, where students are behind in credit for many reasons. I often get asked when I am going to quit and focus just on creating art. The truth is, I love teaching and it brings balance to my studio practice. My students inspire me, and I hope to inspire them. 

Each of our artists have their own unique perspective and style when it comes to their art-making. Some artists utilize special tools, some execute specific techniques, and others incorporate interesting supplemental media. Our artists use these skills to perfect their craft and produce work of which we just can’t get enough!

Maura Segal

If you look closely at Maura Segal’s paintings, you can see texture and patterns in the foreground and background. Those shapes and lines are actually hand-cut pieces of paper that add an awesome dimensionality to her pieces. 

 

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Liz Barber

Liz Barber’s approach to her canvases is very experimental. She likes to pour paint around and let it take on a life of its own. She also works chalk, charcoal, and pastel into her paintings. Barber enjoys seeing how the mediums interact with each other. The heavy pours of paint mingle into one another beautifully, especially juxtaposed with her other mark-making. 

Raul De La Torre

Raul De La Torre’s first step in his process is to paint linearly with select colors on a canvas or paper. After that, he carefully cuts out sections of the canvas, interrupting the connection of the painted lines. Finally, Raul sources thread that very closely matches the color of his paints to embroider the gap and connect the painted lines once again. Like Audra Weaser, De La Torre’s process is special and amplifies the uniqueness of his art.

 

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Audra Weaser

Audra Weaser tackles her work through layering and then navigating back into the canvas using a sanding process. Weaser uses this technique to depict motion and allows for an interesting exploration of the movement of light in naturalistic motifs, such as water. This excavation process adds a lovely poetic note to Weaser’s serene canvases.

Hunt Slonem 

Hunt Slonem loves repetition, as seen by his multitude of rabbits, butterflies, and finches, but also his method of adding texture. His technique for creating texture is executed by sharpening the back end of a paintbrush to make lines in his impasto surfaces. This effect is most clearly seen in his landscape paintings and in the backgrounds of his butterfly pieces, giving them an intriguing illusion effect.

 

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