Wells brings his art home

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Former Red Wing resident Bill Wells opens a new show this weekend in the Red Wing Arts Association’s Depot Gallery.

Titled “Paintings by Bill Wells,” the show includes oil paintings, watercolor drawings, and a few pieces of painted furniture. The show runs through Sept. 29, and a public reception is set for 4 p.m. Aug. 23.

Wells graduated from Red Wing High School and Grinnell College. He rented a studio at the Anderson Center for a time and eventually pursued a master’s degree at the University of Washington in Seattle.

“During my course of study, my work shifted from an outward perspective of nature — the landscape — to an inner view of nature — the life of organisms. This shift resulted from a desire to make work that was tangeble and free from arbitrary elements,” he said.

He graduated in the 1999 and said his work continues along those lines.

In 2002, he moved to New York City to work as an artist’s assistant and decorative painter of furniture at John Rosselli International. His recent paintings on furniture are an outgrowth, he said, of what he learned about the decorative arts on the job as well as seeing decorative work in museums and galleries.

He moved to the Twin Cities two years ago and has since painted three murals projects.

Second exhibit

The RWAA gallery has another exhibit in place: ArtsAround — Celebrating the arts all around us.”

The show features pieces created by the groups the association serves from elementary age through senior citizens: KidsCount, Youth Outreach, The Women’s Center and Seniors residing at Ebenezer, Seminary Plaza, Jordan Towers and Hi-Park.

Both individual and group-created artwork are represented.

Tags: red wing depot gallery, bill wells, applause