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We-Mee Studio

WE-MEE Studio is the home of the dynamic husband and wife artists, Wayne Ensrud and Lisa Mee. Their

02/17/2024

I take landscapes and reshape them into a seamless unity. Like a chef who pares down a complicated recipe to its purest ingredients, I often approach landscapes in the same manner. Rather than clutter a scene with a barrage of details, I use a spectrum of flatly painted colorful areas to convey mass, volume, and shape. This isn't simply a painting; it's an embrace of joyous energy meant to light up your room with the spirit of timeless Tuscany.

01/17/2024

I never literally paint a table as in a photo. I paint the emotion that is produced within me. The key to creating fresh art is to look at life like a child. That's what I try to maintain. If you lose that, you'll never paint in a personal way. Colors were given to us to express emotions. The still life subject is key to my evolution as an artist. Like Matisse and many others, it wasn't until after they painted numerous still lifes over the years that these artists could then approach painting the figure. I dabbled in both of these subjects simultaneously over my life, but I see now what Matisse meant: still lifes encompass complexities and contrasts that challenge the artist to make them appear alive. # # #

12/15/2023

Some years ago, I began exploring abstract painting. Artists use colors to define an object. But, when there's no object to portray, it's especially challenging. I wanted to create glowing paintings of splendor like music which conveys rhythms of rising, surging and dropping down in tones. I didn't totally abandon a recognizable object in some of these works but rather I painted a subtle visual 'clue' in each one.

12/01/2023

Capturing the divine proportions of figures in my art is among my life-long obsessions. When a model moves into a more relaxed mode is when I abandon my self-conscious brushwork into more spontaneous rhythms. The dimensions become harmonious vibrations to reverberate with life. #

11/22/2023

I always revel in painting still lifes. Like puzzles for children, who find the pieces to fit together except in my case, I create and paint the puzzle pieces. The still life is a testing ground of an artist's imagination, where objects and nature offer cues with which to improvise. It's not about just capturing outer appearances of objects but also about revealing a greater depth of emotion. #

10/25/2023

I received one particularly uplifting message recently from one of the viewers that reiterates WHY I paint - I just had to share her response to my art.

"This is just a quick message to say how much I love your paintings. And when I saw you (And your love of dogs and art...and just life in general on AVC ..)I just had to reach out and say your paintings heal my soul. This is such a hard time right now in the world. People are trying to cope with everything going on..it’s hit our community very hard…but your art is beyond uplifting. It helps heal my soul..so I thank you for that. It’s such a weird time and it’s so hard to know how to help right now but for me personally art helps and heals my soul and I need that....the world needs that. So I thank you ! You may not even see this tonight or ever ..I just saw a painting you did and it moved me and I had to reach out and say thank you. You make the world a more beautiful place to live. "

- Christine S.

09/05/2023

It's hot as Hades yet I am sensing the transition of autumn approaching. It's a subtle energy, signaling endings but also shapeshifting. This time of year is called 'reentree' in France, the 're-entry.' We experience the liberating effects of nature's cycles and for those who are sensitive, it's a sign of opening doors to ourselves and new possibilities. That's why I delve into abstraction: it's a totally unknown territory but once the creative impulse takes hold, off I go. When space is cleared in my studio, it's great to see some of my autumnal-esque abstract canvases on display together to feel their warm invigorating energy: 'Floating Islands' (48 x 48 in.), 'Islets in the Stream' (48 x 48 in.), 'Trajectory Red' (40 x 48 in.), 'Roller Coaster' (44 x 48 in.)

08/06/2023

Pastels in art are often overlooked, sometimes dismissed as a 'serious' medium by some. However, I find their nuance and range of color hues extraordinary, from warm to cool tones and the subtleties in between. I've used pastels for decades. They offer creative freedom and immediacy with just a single swipe that could indicate the length of a leg or the most delicate fingernail of a model.

07/15/2023

There are paintings that haunt and captivate you forever. 'Girl With A Pearl Earring' is one of those masterpieces. Painted by the brilliant Vermeer in the late 1600's, I saw it in person on my first trip to Europe decades ago. Fast forward to the present, I wanted to walk in Vermeer's proverbial footsteps on canvas. Working in oil paint the time-honored way with mineral spirits and two fine sable brushes, I realized the gamble I was taking. It's a medium I used to paint exclusively with many years ago when I did portraits due to its viscosity and luminous slippery feel. However, the price to pay with oil paints is time: the drying time is brutally long and not easy to maintain wash-like effects. I wanted to understand the arrangement of Vermeer's brushwork and his rich tones. It's a painting where nuance grabs the viewer rather than the overt bold shapes and colors. I worked on this canvas all month, allowing it to speak to me when it was finished. Capturing the 'look' in the eye is more challenging than painting a photographic eye itself. Bringing a static form to life is the revelation of the magic in a painting.

06/16/2023

Seeing this painting back-lit by only sunlight created an aura about it. As much as I enjoy gestural painting, I also find pleasure in creating an architectonic unity of powerful geometrics in a painting composition. Arbitrary forms and shapes were brought together in this canvas infused with vibrant primary colors and secondary tones of burnt sienna along with stark black and white. It's a form dominated imagination that comes through by maneuvering visual space. 'Mandolin And Guitar' (24 x 30 inch acrylic and tempera on canvas)

06/01/2023

Painting outdoors is a passion of mine. By alternately using vibrant pastels, gouache, and watercolors, I learned to create more with less. Reworking artworks on paper is not easy if not impossible due to wear and tear on the surface. By working on paper, I create different color chromatic relationships to convey an emotional atmosphere. While painting outdoors, I find my eyes adjust readily to understand the light, color, and spatial relations of a landscape. At times, painting 'plein air' overwhelms the emotions, but it is a good challenge to bridge the gap between vision and description. These works 22 x 30 inch works on paper were created on a trip to the Bay area I took several years ago, but they still appear as fresh as the day I painted them.

05/23/2023

I was blessed to have my eyes truly 'see' while taking classes at art school from the great Josef Albers. He taught that colors are perceived differently by everyone. The color RED is one that especially can deceive and dominate. Each color plays off the other and must be strategic in placement. Otherwise, the result is chaos ( which he lamented is mostly what we see in modern art).

One of my favorite Albers quotes : Art is revelation instead of information, expression instead of description, creation instead of imitation or repetition. Art is concerned with the HOW, not the WHAT; not with literal content, but with the performance of the factual content. The performance - how it is done - that is the content of art.

Address

516 W 25th Street
New York, NY
10001

Telephone

(646) 326-9579

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