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It was a whisper at first, too soft to notice
Slowly it twisted and turned and faltered, twisted and turned and faltered,
Twisted and rose; undetected and silent to those that didn't want to know.

There was enough momentum to move a blade of grass, and then...two.
Breaking free it fluttered through the tress looking for it's own reflection...when did it find me?

I felt it on my face over the years when the sun warmed my skin;
I felt it as I played and ran and danced, as it was watching me.

There were friends, parties, lovers, and love,
laughter and heartbreak, beautiful art and music and discovery after discovery after discovery.

And still it hovered, waiting for an announcement and a grand and pounding entrance.

It ticked quietly and then it marched until, creeping along like a suspicious wind on a summer night,
it readied itself to make it's presence known.

I bent my ear; I could hear it coming,
and then it touched my hand.

2018 Oconomowoc Arts Center 641 E Forrest, Oconomowoc, WI 53066 (July 14 - August 31)
2017 Cedarburg Artists Guild Annual Juried Exhibit (September 2 - October 15) Blue Ribbon Best in Show
2017 The Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St, Madison, WI (June 1 - 30)
2016 Thrasher Opera House, 505 Mill Street, Green Lake, WIsconsin (November 12 - December)
2016 Cedarburg Artists Guild Annual Juried Exhibit (September 3 - October 9)
2016 Milwaukee Gallery Night & Day, Shaker's Cigar Bar 422 S. 2nd Street, Milwaukee, WI
2015 Cedarburg Artists Guild Annual Juried Exhibit (Aug 15 - Oct 11)
2014 The Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St, Madison, WI
2014 Portage Center for the Arts, Drury Gallery, 302 East Cook Street, Portage, WI
2013 The Acoustic Cafe, 77 Lafayette St, Winona, MN
2012 The Pump House Regional Arts Center, 119 King Street, La Crosse, WI
2008 The Painted Bean, La Crosse, WI

2016 Thrasher Opera House, 505 Mill Street, Green Lake, WIsconsin (November 12 - December)
2016 Cedarburg Artists Guild Annual Juried Exhibit (September 3 - October 9)
2016 Milwaukee Gallery Night & Day, Shaker's Cigar Bar 422 S. 2nd Street, Milwaukee, WI
2015 Cedarburg Artists Guild Annual Juried Exhibit (Aug 15 - Oct 11)
2014 The Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St, Madison, WI
2014 Portage Center for the Arts, Drury Gallery, 302 East Cook Street, Portage, WI
2013 The Acoustic Cafe, 77 Lafayette St, Winona, MN
2012 The Pump House Regional Arts Center, 119 King Street, La Crosse, WI
2008 The Painted Bean, La Crosse, WI

Well here we go...

My friend Kevin Schultz offered his expertise to create a spotlight piece on me late 2013. He came over to my studio with his equipment and we spent four hours gathering the footage for this three minute piece. Then Kevin worked on it for over two months off and on to put this final version together. It is quite apropos that the Oscars were on the night of my preview because this should be nominated. It totally blew me away. I'll forever be in Kevin's debt.

Go to Youtube and search Wandell Artist.

Enjoy!

For the month of November, 2014, I will be exhibiting ~20 works of art at the magnificent Pyle Center in Madison, Wisconsin. The Pyle Center is an extension of the University of Wisconsin. Each month its halls populate with a new rotation of pieces from local artists, cooperatives and galleries.Themes have varied from Wisconsin history, human behavior, landscapes, pop art and the abstract. I, of course, will be bringing my own distinctive, organic, style of paintings in hopes of shedding a new light on the walls of the center.

The Pyle Center
702 Langdon St, Madison, WI 53706
Phone: 608.262.1122

It's October 14, 2007. I had hung a few paintings at the Painted Bean, a coffee house, in downtown Grafton, Wisconsin; Woman Waiting is one of four paintings, the other three are Cowboy Standing, Sunrise over the Pond and Be Somebody. It's so cool to have your work hanging in a public place where people gather and enjoy art with their cup of joe. I don't expect anything to come about of it but then the phone rings and Woman Waiting sold! My very first sale ~BOOM, all of a sudden van gogh and I are tied for the number of paintings sold in our lifetimes! It sold for $185 to a lady named Kathy O'Connor. Very validating and very exciting.

I like to think of this as a lost painting and that one day it will be significant. I always liked it; an attractive woman looks intently toward the viewer with a small white vase to her left holding one funky red rose. She's very mysterious. I can see it still but at the time, no picture of it. So Kathy, if you still have that Woman Waiting, I'm all ears (and eyes).