By guest artist Wyatt Waters, Clinton MS
It’s always been paint. Since I was two and a
half. It was an old house. Mother gave me a brush and let me help her spatter
the floor of our kitchen to help create a linoleum like pattern and cover up
the hole repairs. I remember the sensation of paint.
I think it’s an impulse to see ourselves. Cave men in ancient France decorated their walls with painted bison and airbrushed paint through a reed using their hand to create a stencil. I remember tracing my hand on paper as a kid. I suppose that cave painting was the first hand turkey. It was more than just decoration though. The bison was god. They lived according to their hunt for bison. It provided food and tools and clothing and stories of the hunt around a fire. It gave them reason to form together as a society. The outline of their hands was their signature. It told them who they were. It provided evidence that they had been there.
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| Table for Two or Tree ©2018 Wyatt Waters |
I think it’s an impulse to see ourselves. Cave men in ancient France decorated their walls with painted bison and airbrushed paint through a reed using their hand to create a stencil. I remember tracing my hand on paper as a kid. I suppose that cave painting was the first hand turkey. It was more than just decoration though. The bison was god. They lived according to their hunt for bison. It provided food and tools and clothing and stories of the hunt around a fire. It gave them reason to form together as a society. The outline of their hands was their signature. It told them who they were. It provided evidence that they had been there.
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| Bambi, ©2018 Wyatt Waters |
I think at the core of painting there is much
much more than the representation of what we see. There is how we see and the
more mysterious how we feel. At its best, painting combines them all.
When I couldn’t say how I felt to myself, I could always paint. When I couldn’t fit in socially, I was able to gain acceptance with a brush. When I wiggled more than I should have, I was given a stubby pencil and a church bulletin and was able to be still. When I was trying to work out an idea, I drew it first. When I was dreaming of how things should be, I planned on paper. I also lost most girlfriends over my decision to paint. I drove older cars because I made art and some people laughed. I lived in homes that other people would not. I was and still am often confused with someone who might not have a home. I have been told I was lazy.
Once in a while, there are people who throw things from their cars as I paint. It can be so hot the paint evaporates as soon as it hits paper. There are days it’s so cold it freezes before my eyes. In the end, It all balances out and I’m left only with the paint.
I am like those ancient cavemen who did the same thing. It’s my life I am painting. I follow the herd and go where it leads me.
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| Water Pole ©2018 Wyatt Waters |
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| Crowds gathered to watch Wyatt Waters demo in May 2018 in Port St Joe, Fl . Wyatt served on the faculty of Plein Air South. |
When I couldn’t say how I felt to myself, I could always paint. When I couldn’t fit in socially, I was able to gain acceptance with a brush. When I wiggled more than I should have, I was given a stubby pencil and a church bulletin and was able to be still. When I was trying to work out an idea, I drew it first. When I was dreaming of how things should be, I planned on paper. I also lost most girlfriends over my decision to paint. I drove older cars because I made art and some people laughed. I lived in homes that other people would not. I was and still am often confused with someone who might not have a home. I have been told I was lazy.
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| Gardening ©2018 Wyatt Waters |
Once in a while, there are people who throw things from their cars as I paint. It can be so hot the paint evaporates as soon as it hits paper. There are days it’s so cold it freezes before my eyes. In the end, It all balances out and I’m left only with the paint.
I am like those ancient cavemen who did the same thing. It’s my life I am painting. I follow the herd and go where it leads me.
Video: Static - written and performed by Wyatt Waters.
Widely known for his
watercolors of Southern culture, Waters creates paintings of the roadside
South. His works have been featured in Art & Antiques, American Artist,
Watercolor, Plein Air Magazine, Mississippi Magazine and Delta Magazine. His
paintings are held in private and corporate collections. Waters has had solo
shows at the Mississippi Museum of Art, The Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, The
Meridian Museum of Art and The Jackson Municipal Gallery. He owns and operates
the Wyatt Waters Gallery in Clinton, MS.
Wtatt has published
books of his paintings and collaborated with Robert St. John on “A Southern
Palate,” “Southern Seasons,” “A Mississippi Palate“ and “An Italian Palate.” He
and Robert St. John also produce and host the “Palate to Palette” series on
MPB. He received the MS Institute of Arts & Letters Award for “An Oxford
Sketchbook” and the MS Library Association Special Award for Art for his
collaboration with Robert St. John, “A Southern Palate.” He has the recipient
of the Mississippi Governor’s Award for his painting. He lives with his dog,
James in Clinton, MS.
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| This fall Wyatt and Robert traverse the state of Mississippi in a one-of-a-kind deep dive into the food, art, music, and culture. |
A big thanks to Wyatt Waters for his story!
Follow this blog about Mississippi artists. In the coming weeks, this site will be publishing works by several plein air painters from around Mississippi.
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Wyatt tells a great story and I am sure most artists can connect.
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