WAYNE THIEBUAD

saturday march 29th marty, simon, his girlfriend cami and i went to the Wayne Thiebaud exhibit at the springville art museum.

the most exciting part was that Wayne was there to give a lecture on his work. he is 89 years old and fit as a fiddle. his mind was very sharp. he seemed so normal, which isn't really a surprise but more a relief. He was dressed in a navy suit, with a sweater vest and a bow tie, silver hair and glasses. the art director from BYU facilitated the interview, which was mostly questions from the audience. Wayne answered every question, with equal importance to all of the them. although i think he was more interested in hanging out with his family who were all there to support him. he was very humble in talking about his work and very passionate when talking about the painting process. you see Wayne Thiebaud is a super star in the art world. he is up there with Diebenkorn, Jasper Johns, Rausenburg, Andy Warhol (in my opinion) his paintings probably sell for $100,000 plus. yet he still chose to teach at the sacramento city college.

i remember when i was younger looking through marty's art books. wayne's cakes and pastries, ice cream cones, gum ball machines, always stuck out to me. i think i was drawn to his work then as i am now because his paintings are simply paintings. there is no political statement, there is no shocking in your face drama, there is no abstracting the human form to the point of a solid red square. his paintings are about color and common objects. he uses broad brush strokes and thick paint to create vibrant, luscious color. they are just beautiful. but i never thought in a million years i would be able to see him and hear him talk about his work. especially in springville utah! i feel so lucky to have heard from one of the great ones. he was truly inspiring.