ARTIST STATEMENT
Embracing the wild and free child within inspires me to turn on the music, dance, imagine, and create playful large-scale abstract paintings.
My work begins with free expression, in other words, painting from the heart. Welcoming all the mess that comes with loose sweeps of acrylic paints, and the excitement of experimenting with found tools – squeegees, toilet brush, fork, shot glass, spatula – the painting emerges, layer upon layer.
Vivid colors, bold lines, and monumental shapes build the story of each piece of art.
Perfection is not the goal. Sharing joy is.
My invitation to the viewer: Step into this art and discover lost innocence. Recapture the play, and magic of your own wonder years.
BIO
A rock. A 50th birthday party. And a woman with whimsey in her heart begins the story of artist Wendy Fisher.
Gathered around the celebratory dinner table were the faces of her family and closest friends. At each setting sat a small gift - a rock the size to hold in your palm. Words of inspiration, lines, dots, squiggles, and flowers were painted upon each with Wendy’s playful hand.
The rocks were not only a symbol of friendship and love, but a clue to the creativity that was about to emerge. Wendy Fisher was becoming an artist and so the adventure began.
Through the rocks Wendy discovered she enjoyed creating something out of nothing, but found the small pebbles to be constricting. With haste she purchased a large canvas and found that painting big allowed her more freedom and creativity to experiment. Wendy started taking online classes and in-person workshops to master the basics of color theory after realizing she loved painting but still had a lot to learn.
Today, Wendy creates in her sunny Santa Barbara studio where each canvas touched by her hand expresses Wendy’s openness to be vulnerable, to be true, and to share joy.
Born and raised in Washington State Wendy longed for the sun and sandy beaches of California and in her 20’s made her way down the coast to the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2001 she moved further South to Santa Barbara where she met her husband Matthew, a quantum physicist at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Together they have high school student Maya, studio dog Frankie, and her husband’s three grown children and their families.
Wendy was juried into the Santa Barbara Art Association in 2021 and has her paintings on display at Gallery 113 in Santa Barbara’s iconic La Arcada Court. The gallery opened in 1973 and is the longest operating fine art gallery in Santa Barbara. Wendy’s art can be viewed online at wendyfisher.net or by appointment at her Santa Barbara studio.