Tia Wells

Artist StatemenT

Hey there! If you’re reading this then you’re probably also taking a look at my artwork so I’ll tell you a little about my artist journey. I remember being interested in art in pre-kindergarten. I remember drawing typical kiddie things like school buses and flowers. My interest in art grew more in 2nd grade, as I learned how to draw the outlines of the cartoon characters Beavis and Butthead and at 6 years old thought that was a true talent lol. My love for art grew more as Physical Education began in grade school because the calm and collaborate environment of the art classroom connected with me much more than the loud and competitive atmosphere of PE. Grade school also required us to be in art classes so I have been in art classes since Pre-K until undergraduate school. I began taking art seriously in high school and enrolled in the art Advanced Placement (AP) Program. In high school that’s where I began learning foundational techniques of painting that I continue to use as I get older. Such as going from big brush to little brush, block in - to detail, dark colors to lighter colors, and then highlights to shadows. I also learned little tips to help me such as paint in the eyes last because most people do the eyes first which can throw off proportions and likeness to the form. I would have to thank my high school teachers Darrel Smith and Dennis Whitehouse for that. Then I attended Governor’s School for the Arts in 10th grade which taught me more sculpture and working with other kids interested in the same thing. That is where I met the lovely Susan Harrison, also a Pyro member. Then in undergrad at UofL I had a double major in Psychology and Fine Art. For art I was taught painting by Mark Priest who had taught me how to render and blend a painting. And use techniques like wash to create transparency or shadow. I learned from college drawing to start with the torso of a figure and move from the core of the body outward for more accurate proportions. I also took a lot of art history classes that taught me about the history of various artists and some favorites of mine are M.C. Escher, Salvador Dali, Claude Monet, Rembrandt, Carravagio, Michaelangelo, Raphael, Kehinde Wiley, Takashi Murakami, and many more that I can’t think of on the top of my head. But I am drawn to the naturalistic or hyper realistic form of art. I challenge myself to paint as realistically as possible. But I also know that painting abstractly can be just as difficult. Currently I enjoy doing series of things and having been moving from large oil paintings to digital painting and printmaking. But I’m glad you are looking at my work and hope you like it!