| |
Mylette Welch
www.mylettewelch.com
Painter Mylette Welch was born in the sun-drenched, color saturated
island of Oahu. Her family moved two years later to dusty, dry
Bakersfield. “Something was missing. “She remembers thinking, ”Where
did all the color go? ”For anyone who has seen Welch’s paintings,
its obvious that the color went into her playful portraits of stray
dogs, children, old diners, and rusty trucks.
Mylette’s paintings are rooted in the Sonoma County landscape- gas
stations, farmer’s markets, the vineyards, neighbor’s gardens, old
trucks, and burger stands.
But occasionally her paintings veer off into a surrealistic world of
dreams and memories,
where goldfish swim around the kitchen and accordions fly through
the night sky.
“I like dreams bumping against reality ”she explained, comparing
this juxtaposition to the moment when you first wake up and your
dream is “out in the room somewhere.”
Her old yellow lab mix, Gus emerged as a major subject in many of
her works. That will not change even though he has passed on. Her
two year old Pug Toaster is trying to take over for Gus, he came to
her as a “divorce rescue”. A new addition to the family is baby
Knuckles, wild boy Pug. Both of her dogs enjoy working with Mylette
in the studio.
Other dogs found their way into Mylette’s works, her grandma’s dog
Stubby, Bee-Bee the Shelter’s rotund mascot, Tuna the cat and old
Floyd the neighbor dog. In time animal lovers were bringing their
family members to be included in the fantasy. Once she paints a dog,
he will turn up in paintings for years to come “There are so many
dogs to paint and so little time.”
She has developed a series of paintings inspired by the question
”what do dogs do late at night-on the loose?” Then a series evolved
when she added Barbie dolls to her dog’s mouth. In these paintings
Barbie lives in a world where she dates Gus instead of Ken. Another
project of interest to the artist is painting wonderful old places-
fruit stands, diners, gas stations and honky tonks that are fast
disappearing from our world.
She also enjoys painting the dogs who hang around the wineries ,
greet the guests and protect the vineyards around Healdsburg.
Mylette’s work can be found in galleries and shows throughout the
area and beyond. “I like to also show in alternative settings like
restaurants, schools and the dog groomer.” You may be eating dinner
and see a dog and a couple of pigs grinning down at you from one of
Mylette’s paintings.
When she paints, Mylette said she works fast and likes to listen to
really good music in the company of a sweet Pug with three shades of
paint on his tail. I try to have a good time,”she said. “When people
view my work hope it makes them smile.”
commissions welcomed
|
|
|
