We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chris Wheeler a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Chris, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

My wife and I moved to Tainan Taiwan in 1999 to travel throughout Asia and learn about the culture. Tainan is known as the cultural center of Taiwan so we had access to cultural institutions that were rich with history and prestige. She took traditional ink and brush painting and realized that when we moved back to the United States there wouldn’t be anyone to flatten and mount her ink paintings. I volunteered to study under Master Huang in the traditional technique of stretching scrolls and shoji screens. This technique of stretching paper dates back thousands of years ever since ink and paper were combined and only done by a handful of artisans in the United States. With my wife as interpreter, I learned how to stretch and manipulate paper in ways that I didn’t know possible.

When I returned to Seattle, I started doing restoration work specializing in antique shoji screens and scrolls. All the time spent in the art studio allowed me to explore this medium. It was in these valuable years that I developed my technique of collage of stretching paper on large drying boards and texturing them with acrylics. The foundation and materials that I use in my collage today is based on this ancient technique.

Chris, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I grew up in Philadelphia and frequented the abundance of cultural centers and institutions. This creative region has enriched my life and inspired my journey in becoming an artist. For as long as I could remember I wanted to be in the creative industry but didn’t know exactly where my place would be. My passions have been in the literary arts as well as the visual and for a time I pursued the publication of my fiction stories. It was not until my trip to Taiwan and studying the traditional art of mounting paper did my path become more clear as a visual collage artist.

My upbringing in the east coast and love of modern and midcentury architecture has influenced my current work immensely. I strive and am know for a unique aesthetic that is balanced, geometric and lends to the imagination.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I grew up going to the the Philadelphia Museum of Art and that has been such an important part of my path to becoming an artist. It was not until a client early on in my career suggested that I try an art festival. Up until then I have not been to one nor really understood what they entailed. After my first art festival season I was hooked and it is how I make a majority of my living as an artist. An art shows is an amazing collaboration of artists that come from all over the country to exhibit, educate, and provide artwork for peoples homes and business. One day the street or venue is empty and the next day hundreds of artists are set up for a beautiful display of what is current, trending and relevant in our current art scene. Up until then I felt that art was unapproachable and unattainable and by buying from living artists one can personally meet the artist and directly contribute to the progress of art and culture. It was not until I started purchasing art myself from art festivals did I realize how important it was to understand the joy, emotion and memories that art can make in your life. Every time you look at that artwork in your home, it makes you stop and enjoy the moment. It makes you remember the wonderful artist that you connected with. And if you shared the moment with your spouse or family, the beautiful discussion that brought you to that purchase.

If you’ve never been to an art show or think that you can’t afford art, go to your local art show and talk to an artist. You’ll learn a lot about yourself and what you like and support living, working artists.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

2 years into after becoming a full time artist, my wife who is also an artist, gave birth to our little girl. We were still at that time figuring things out and the great recession of 2008 happened just a couple of months before. It was one of the scariest and most uncertain times in my life. At that time we lived in Seattle and only exhibited seasonally at summer art festivals. It was no longer an option to work a couple months a year with a child.

We made many difficult decisions and one being leaving all our friends, family and support groups for Austin Texas where I could have access to art shows year round. Even with that big move, the recession just happened and it was difficult to make ends meet. There were times when I didn’t know if we could continue however interestingly enough when I thought that things couldn’t get more stressful a client would call and make a big purchase. Over the years whenever we were on the edge this would happen over and over again.

There is no manual that tells you how to be an artist or do it for a living. There is no direct path and each artist has to find their individual way. I learned that I had to work hard, even when things were down and treat it as a business and be professional, courteous and responsive as best to my abilities. I learned that if I did all these things, and had faith in my ability our clients would keep on calling, however I would have to say that my faith was tested many time. 15 years later I am grateful for every difficult decision that I had made because I am still able to do what I love to this day.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.PergamenaFineArt.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswheeler99/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Pergamena-Fine-Art-Artists-Nha-Vuu-Chris-Wheeler-465681856795637