Today we’d like to introduce you to Wendy Means.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I’m originally from Cleveland, OH. I remember winning every art contest I ever entered every year from preschool to senior in high school. I didn’t have aspirations before high school to have an art career as I was also good in athletics and academics.
I struggled with severe bouts of depression through my teen years and family obligations kept me from experiencing the normal life a teenager usually has. I spent a lot of time alone in my room using art and music to cope.
At the end of my senior year, I was offered art scholarships to three different colleges. I chose to take the one at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I missed most of my first semester due to pneumonia. I found the cost of supplies alone were more than I could manage even with work-study. I also didn’t feel like I was getting enough intellectual stimulation there. I seem to be as equally left-brained as I am right. After art school, I went on a short tour with the band I was in at the time and started a career subcontracting for the three major comic book companies. I started to attend Columbia college of Chicago. I was there for about a year and a half majoring in Interactive Multimedia until I withdrew from school once again.
The aftermath of a car accident during that time started a more rapid decline for me physically. Work in the comic book industry dried up. I hit a downward spiral around age 25. Up until then, everything in life had happened ahead of schedule for me; starting college at 17, getting married at 21, starting my own business at 20, and all of the sudden all of that was gone all in one fell swoop. My physical issues were still getting progressively worse and harder to do everyday tasks with. Things started getting back on track for me at age 30 when I was finally properly diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and PTSD. I received treatment for both. Later I was also diagnosed with fibromyalgia. The treatment for ehlers-danlos and fibromyalgia will be ongoing for the rest of my life. Currently, doctors suspect I may also have an autoimmune disorder. I had my son in 2005 (also diagnosed with EDS) and in 2009 the two of us moved to Florida without knowing a soul.
In 2017, I suddenly found myself in a situation where I had a car payment a house payment and a son to raise all on my own following a brief marriage. After being unable to secure work from home, I decided I had nothing to lose and went back to doing fine art. I started Wendevious Arts as a visual and vocal arts business. When it started, my emphasis was going to be on vocals because that’s the work I was getting at the time period. Almost immediately, the singing gigs dried up, and I realized I didn’t have enough capital for the equipment I’d need for voiceover work. An opportunity to be in an art show popped up and I decided to follow the path the universe was laying out for me. I began putting all the focus on my artwork.
I’ve been working almost exclusively in acrylic on canvas. I am a Metarealistic Artist although I’m not offended by the Surrealist label that’s more commonly used. Anything I paint has to affect me on three different levels: The fragility of the natural world, the subjectiveness of the human mind and the transcendence of it all. I’m much happier hearing what my paintings mean to others than explaining the multilayered things they mean to me.
It’s been difficult due to issues with my hands, neuromuscular issues, etc., but a neck surgery at the end of 2018 has improved things some. The funny thing about it all is even just being at this again for a short amount of time, I’m back to not being able to imagine life without creating art. As I’ve gotten older, I find words more and more clumsy and insufficient when trying to express things. My work is the more comfortable way to convey things now. Maybe that’s why I hear the word “evokotive” in reference to my paintings so often.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
One major hurdle has been my Ehlers-danlos Syndrome, which includes arthritis, neurological issues, autonomic issues, chronic fatigue, neuromuscular issues and chronic pain. Another has been PTSD which includes an anxiety disorder and sporadic depression.
Being a biracial woman has always had its challenges. Right now, we’re in a reckoning over the treatment of black people. I get the same general substandard treatment as other black people, but when you think of art for the cause, it doesn’t usually include people with my coloring. On the other side of the spectrum, I’m not only Caucasian but primarily Ashkenazi. You would not believe how many countries come up on my DNA profile! It feels like I always have to explain what I am to people.
Wendevious Arts – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Currently, I am participating in art events with my acrylic paintings, and selling prints and pillows of my work on my website and on Etsy. I previously offered other items like T-shirts but COVID has interrupted the supply chain on some items, so I’ve narrowed things down to what I can get to customers in a timely manner. Besides buying through gallery shows, you can also purchase original art by messaging me directly.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I’m already getting to do what I love. For me, success is to have my work be more well known, to monetize my art to the point where I’m living “comfortably, and to have gallery representation. I would love to have a steady voice acting gig at some point.
Contact Info:
- Website: wendevious.com
- Email: wendycmeans@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/wendevious
- Facebook: facebook.com/wendeviousarts
- Twitter: @wendevious
Image Credit:
Wendy Means, Melanie Saxon, Kimberly Miller
Suggest a story: VoyageMIA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
