Wendy Mould is a wildlife artist, instructor and presenter working with watercolour and graphite mediums. She’s an endlessly talented local artist who does what many of us often forget to do: stop and smell the roses. Wendy is one of the 33 artists participating in this year’s Art in the City: Studio Tour on October 1st and 2nd. The tour is a wonderful opportunity to meet local artists like Wendy, who will be performing demonstrations at her Studio (Art by Wendy) throughout both days of the event. We caught up with Wendy to learn a little bit more about her artistic process, and Surrey’s thriving art community.
Discover Surrey: What is art to you?
Wendy Mould: Art to me is putting your ideas and emotions into a creative process that results in a visual piece, either 2 or 3 dimensional. It is something that can bring joy and happiness into your life, present you with new ideas or stop and make you think. For my part I love the joy and happiness that it can bring into your life and that is my focus.
DS: Why do you do what you do? What do you hope your art will achieve or communicate?
WM: My focus now is my wildlife art. Hiking, canoeing, and camping have always been a big part of my life. Some of the really special moments in my journeys are with my encounters with wildlife in their nature setting. It is such a special moment to watch an eagle swoop down out of the trees and snag a fish in the water, to paddle around the bend and find a moose with her young feeding in the marsh or watch a stellar jay chatter and dance as he tries to steal part of your lunch out on the trail. I want to share those special moments. I think I have been so fortunate to have had these encounters and I know for many this is not possible. I think that sharing these moments will help others to see value in our wildlife and help to protect them. To me it’s so important to preserve our wildlife in the wild.
DS: Surrey is a thriving artistic community with outstanding performing arts venues, galleries, museums and a wealth of public art. What do you think of Surrey’s growing Art Scene?
WM: I think there is an amazing amount of art happening in the our community. I love to watch the live theatre, and we have several great production companies here to choose from. My daughter was part of the dance community and I certainly know how much there is here for that. Our visual art community is growing in leaps and bounds and we now have a great community gallery at the Newton Cultural Center. The thing that I found the most awesome is the activities of YACOS. It is wonderful the opportunities it provides the young people in our community. I have been involved in the art community for many years in various ways and I enjoy watching it get better each year.
DS: We all know being an artist is not easy, it requires a great deal of creativity! Can you walk us through your creative process?
WM: I find that I am really thinking about my art all the time. I am constantly collecting reference material either with my camera or sketchbook. A special moment or idea will float around in my mind sometimes for years as I figure out how I want to present it. For example I have always wanted to paint crows but each time I start I walk away. I just did not like the direction I was going. This summer I was reading an article about underpainting and how Kim Johnson uses it to present her animals. Something clicked for me and I was off. I painted my first crow,” Busybody”. It just came together effortlessly.
DS: What advice do you have for budding or young artists?
WM: Crack open your sketchbook and do some drawing and when you look at your work the first question you want to ask yourself is “What part do I like?”.
Be sure to visit Wendy’s website to view her body of work and see all the events Wendy is participating in. Be sure to attend this year’s Art in the City: Studio Tour for a chance to meet artists like Wendy Mould, and watch live demonstrations throughout the city!