Michelle Weddle received a BFA in Studio Art from the University of Texas, Austin in 2007, with concentrations in Painting, Drawing, Sculpture and Serigraphy. Exhibit highlights include group shows in Denver and Dallas between 2008 and 2010, a solo show in Boulder, Colorado at the Dairy Center for the Arts in 2011, and additional group shows between 2012 and 2014 in Houston, Texas. The two major bodies of work produced during those years, totaling 30 large scale oil paintings have been purchased by collectors in both Colorado and Texas, while a series of 100 smaller works in acrylic and oil have been sold locally and shipped to locations around the United States.
Weddle begins each piece with an intuitive drawing of overlapping lines that slice from one side of the composition to the other, animating a central body of interlocking shapes whose curves reference simplistic clouds, hills or ocean waves. These shapes are filled with color spontaneously at first, followed by harmonies in contrasting values of warm and cool tones. Gradients reference generalized light and shadow, implying dimension and atmosphere. Sharp angles and straight lines act as counterpoints to the predominant flowing undulations of the rest of the composition, suggesting the presence of the man-made. Areas of thick textural brush strokes contribute to the overall movement of the work while also creating tactile, tangible dimension that lends a sculptural quality.
b. 1983, Houston, TX