The ability to create is not just a brain exercise (which is important as we get older), but a passion that I am truly blessed with in life.
Besides family, art creation, imagination, and the study of nature through exploration, travel, and cherished memories are my compass points.
Art Weeks has always been a restless artist experimenting with different mediums and
exploring common landscapes we take for granted, atmospheric and emotional in
nature. His interest in art stems from watching his uncle Leo Weeks paint beautiful oil
paintings and watercolors while growing up in New Jersey which led to a career in
architecture, a related field but also quite different than the fine arts. A retired architect,
Art holds a B.A. in Architecture from the University of Illinois and has designed many
successful projects in the private and public sector during his career. Art is a faculty
member of the Minnetonka Center for the Arts in Wayzata teaching Pastel Landscape
and Watercolor Foundation. He encourages his students to practice drawing and
painting and most of all become more observant when communicating with nature. In
essence ‘observation’ is half the battle as a preparatory introduction into the art world.
Art is also a firm believer that artists can learn from other mediums, do best when
challenging their skill sets on subjects where they have an emotional attachment
invested, and have chosen a creative endeavor outside of their comfort zone.
Looking at nature in different ways and studying macro and micro shapes indigenous
within the landscape are hallmarks that allow the artist to become looser and more
expressive in brushwork, use of edges, light and shadow, value gradations and
colorization. The Canadian 7 artists Tom Thomson and Frederick Varley are two of Art’s
favorites whose works embody these values along with Americans Winslow Homer,
Theodore Robinson, George Inness (another NJ native), William Trost Richards,
Andrew Wyeth, Frederick Benson, and Willard Metcalf. As a purist utilizing each
medium of oil, watercolor, pastel and acrylic in a traditional manner, Art has received
recognition and awards within the Twin Cities and has exhibited at numerous venues
including the American Swedish Institute.