Interview with Artist Isabel Wyatt

​My hair has grown whiter and whiter.
The paintings have become smaller and darker.
I am inexplicably drawn to the landscape after years of colorful abstraction.
Mysterious, foreboding - is the light fading or is it the dawn of a new day?


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Distant Lake, acrylic stain on birch panel, 10 x 10


AHC: Can you tell me about your process, themes and inspirations?

​Isabel: This body of work began when we downsized to rural Sonoma, CA. Due to a lack of studio and storage space, I decided to restrict myself to black acrylic paint on 10” x 10” birch wood panels and, then, to see what would develop given those restraints. Initially the paintings were abstract compositions, but then a horizon line began to emerge and I thought to myself, “These are landscapes.”  I have always been drawn to the in-between times of dawn and dusk, misty, foggy times when colors and sounds are muted and the world seems still. As the work progressed, the fields and hills around us seemed to seep out of my subconscious into the work.

Hello Rollo, acrylic stain on birch panel, 10 x 10


In terms of technique, the paint is thinned with water and applied in washes. The acrylic acts as a stain on the raw wood, so there is just one shot to get it right. I think the wood grain showing through adds a mysterious element.

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Nearby, acrylic stain on birch panel, 10 x 10


AHC: What first drew you to art? Was there a specific moment in your life or turning point where it became clear to you that you were being called to create?

​Isabel: My grandmother and great grandmother painted. We had their work hanging in our house so I was used to being around art. In the 5th grade, the art teacher at my public school (this was the 1950’s) was so impressed with my painting of a daffodil, that she called my mother to tell her about it. That recognition was a turning point.  My art teachers and professors continued to be an important source of validation and encouragement.
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Memory, acrylic stain on birch panel, 10 x 10



AHC: What are some of your influences?

​Isabel: I’ve been influenced by Minimalist artists like Robert Ryman and Brice Marden and the stain technique of the Color Field artists such as Morris Louis and Helen Frankenthaler. I love Richard Serra’s black works on paper.  I also admire the Tonalist landscapes of the early 1900’s. One of my all-time favorite paintings is Twachtman’s  Arques la Bataille at the Met for its sense of quiet and calm. All of these disparate influences come together in the work.

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Dark Ridge, acrylic stain on birch panel, 10 x 10


AHC: The specific themes of light and dark, dawn and dusk and mystery are very prevalent in the work that you are doing now. Can you talk about the inspiration behind these works?

Isabel: Beyond recreating the beautiful atmospheric conditions of dawn and dusk and fog, I think these works could be considered a meditation on loss, loneliness,  mortality, or foreboding seen in the fading light and encroaching darkness, a theme that is echoed in the old, falling down barns and loss of ranch life here in Sonoma County. 
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Old Farm, acrylic stain on birch panel, 10 x 10


On the other hand, the light could be seen as the misty dawn of a new day, the sun coming up, a new life, a spiritual awakening or the resolution of some dilemma.
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Rise, acrylic stain on birch panel, 10 x 10


AHC: Do you have any upcoming exhibits or projects you would like to tell people about?

​Isabel: My big project at the moment is to get in better shape so I can hike and kayak locally - really be in the landscape. 

Hillside, acrylic stain on birch panel, 10 x 10

To view more of Isabel's work and for further information visit her website at www.isabelwyatt.com