By Michael Stang
From the time she was able to hold a pencil in her hand, and draw a line, Betty Wick never looked back. Her Grandmother kept a special box in the closet for all her pencils, pens and art paper. Betty remembers drawing flowers to the sounds of Lawrence Welk in the background. Betty grew up in a loving home that encouraged her art.
At one point, as life would have it, during her grade school years, Betty found herself as one of the “Cordettes, a group of a baton twirling kids, twirling a fire baton. During those experiences, she met circus legends who followed the parades as added excitement for the town’s people of Northeastern Ohio. Betty met “Lobster Boy”, and the world’s famous Bearded Woman, whose beard was so long she had to have helpers keep it off the ground.
It was one of Betty’s high school teachers that influenced her by his passion for black and white art, and it took her by storm. Betty Wick majored in printmaking at Ohio University where her black and white art developed in complexity. After school, Betty moved to Boston and got a job at the Design Center. She learned from some of the best designers in the word, and was heavily influenced by their designs. She illustrated for a writer who did work for the Boston Globe, and the Washington Post: perfect for black and white. By that time, Betty Wick was starting to show her work nationally.
Betty Wick now lives on the Central Coast of California. She took take a break from black and white when she illustrated a children’s book written by her husband. “It was a different world for me. A lot of fun splashing color around.”
Her son, Orion, a wine maker with his own brand “dilécta” needed wine labels for the bottles. Betty’s art was perfect for the task. So much so, that Betty recreated a canvas to be displayed on one of the walls at the dilécta tasting room. The tasting room is under construction at 5325 Vineyard Drive in Paso Robes, and will be opening soon. One of Betty’s labels will be featured in the “Wine Enthusiast magazine” in a future edition.
Betty Wick became a part of “Studios on the Park” 1130 Pine Street, Paso Robles last February. “I love having my own space to do what I want.” Naturally, there is a lot of exceptionally talented black and white art hanging on the walls. Anne Laddon, founder and lead curator had this to say in “New Times”, out of San Luis Obispo entertainment weekly “Her style is just so unique. It’s playful and edgy. She has a very high skill level.”
Betty Wick may be contacted at www.bettywick.com, or at bettywickart@gmail.com.
