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Story By Hazel Jump, Photos By Jodi Hutchison

For Paula Wewers, art is much more than putting brush to canvas for the creation of a pleasing picture.

“To me, art is a form of communication that ‘talks’ for one,” she says. “It takes the place of words … you can say something with just a few lines and a few scribbles that can take several pages to write sometimes, and sometimes, a whole book can be written in just one painting. Color and shapes can do your speaking for you.”

A native of Jonesboro, Wewers received both her undergraduate degree and Master of Art degree from Arkansas State University, where she studied with Roger Carlisle, Tom Chaffee and Evan Lindquist, and was a graduate assistant for two years. She earned her master of fine arts degree from the University of Memphis.

“I was 24, and already had a family and two children when I started college. “I was a late bloomer I guess,” she says with a laugh.

A visit to her studio provides insight into what inspires the artist.

“I like to see one color next to another,” she says, “and I am usually inspired by something— a visit to the ocean, or an experience I’ve had.“

For instance, the lights and the ocean and the look of the bay at night as she crossed the St. Petersburg toll bridge in Florida inspired her to do a painting, and even trucks on the highway can spur her to paint, as did a Miracle Whip truck traveling the turnpike one rainy night. All of the paintings in her studio challenge the viewer and reveal the artist’s preference for bold, dramatic colors.

Wewers is a multi-medium artist. “I’ve used about every one of them,” she says, “but I paint with acrylics the most because of its convenience. I use it the same as I use oil. I use a lot of watercolor, but it’s the most challenging to me, probably because it does what it wants to do.” But, she adds, “One you determine you can’t control is when you learn how to use it and have some success with it.”

The length of time it takes to complete a work varies from hours to weeks or even months, says Wewers, who adds that at her home she often gets up in the night to work on a painting. Her favorite artist is Picasso, because of his versatility, and while she herself does some sculpture, ‘I call myself a painter.”

A number of years ago Wewers and artist Melissa Christiano joined forces and opened a gallery called The Studio. It was located on the second floor of a building owned by Peggy and David Hughey, now the location of Piero’s restaurant.

‘That got me hooked on having a gallery,” she says.

For five years, Wewers left Arkansas to teach in Alabama where she worked for Livingston University and was the artist in residence for the Demopolis, Ala., school system.

“When I came back to Northeast Arkansas I taught at Williams College in Walnut Ridge for a while, and then George Burns, who was with McFarlin’s Frames (on Huntington Avenue) told me that it was going to be closed. I could see that it was a great opportunity for me to have a gallery. They closed in October and I opened in January under the name Art, Frames, Etc. That got me into the framing business.”

Approximately two years ago, Wewers moved the business to a three-story building at 909 Southwest Drive. The lower floor holds the frame shop and showroom, a gallery for displaying pottery, paintings and photography created by fellow professional artists is located on the second floor, and Wewer’s studio is on the third floor.

One of her plans is to have an open studio event, which will be held for the public once each month, where people can drop in and see what is on view by professional area artists.

“All my life,” Wewers says, “I have been intrigued by art, and one reason I like the gallery is that it enables me to show my own work and to have other artists around me. I totally knew that was what I had to do.

“It is nice to be surrounded by art and be able to have a place to hang your own work.”

Wewers’ work is in private collections and has been exhibited in galleries in St. Petersburg, Fla.; the Chelsea district of New York City; New Orleans; the Contemporary Museum of Art in Memphis; Montgomery, Ala., and locally in the Sara Howell Gallery and the Fine Arts Gallery at Arkansas State University.