Wes Waugh Bio
Wes Waugh is a Boone, North Carolina artist...
... who has made the High Country his home for the past 37 years. He began learning to paint at the age of twelve, has held over fifteen exhibitions, and has served as a workshop instructor, product consultant, guest presenter, and juror for a number of art-related businesses and organizations over his painting career.
Simultaneously, Wes held a full-time teaching and administrative position at nearby Appalachian State University until his retirement in May 2019 after thirty-four years. He referred to his dual career approach as resulting from “an equal devotion to both and “the inability so far to choose one over the other”.
He is also active as a wilderness conservationist and currently serves as the Executive Director of the nonprofit organization “A Clean Wilson Creek”, dedicated to the protection and preservation of this North Carolina National Wild and Scenic River south of Grandfather Mountain.
Visit http://acleanwilsoncreek.org
Wes describes his artistic influences as diverse, yet rooted in the translational and design influenced watercolor landscapes of the late Eliot O’Hara and Edgar Whitney, both mid-20th century American watercolor masters. The Edgar Whitney "Tools and Rules" of design principles and concepts still hold a prominent role in his teaching approach. While few subjects are off-limits, Wes is well known for his bold and “colorist” approach to landscape painting. He not only enjoys sharing techniques for how he achieves these results, but also discusses the important and sequential thought processes involved.
As a counseling/psychology professional, the "mindset" we develop as aspiring artists is of great interest and plays a key role in his teaching activities and discussions. Wes was published in the art journal "The New Palette" #61, with an article entitled: "Watercolor, Wet-into-Wet Demystified". This was in the April-June 2017 edition. For this complete article, a full curriculum vitae, and a Juror's Statement publication please visit his website: https://beartrailart.com/f/the-new-palette-watercolor-wet-into-wet-demystified
"I find comfort in knowing that remote wilderness areas still exist, and often try and draw from my personal experience in visiting these areas as a new painting forms. There is no greater reward than someone feeling strongly enough about one of your efforts to make art, that they want to place the result in their home”.
