Hello, I'm Stephen W.
The drive to create is primordial and creative artistry is a singular and enduring trait of the human race, hence the cave drawings of Spain and France, the paintings and sculpture of ancient India and Egypt, the frescos of medieval Italy. There is something of the artist in each of us. My uncle, Simon Wachtel, was an artist. As a child, I sat on his knee and watched him sketch Mickey Mouse. Uncle Si had special “artist’s pencils” and he would give me one after each of these sessions. It didn’t take long to find out that the magic was in Simon’s hands, not in the pencils. Years later I myself began to paint, and my work took me to cities around the world. This gave me the chance to study the great masters first-hand. People ask about my education. “Where did you learn to paint? Who were your teachers? Where did you study?” In fact, I studied with the masters—Vermeer, Van Gogh, Cézanne, Modigliani, often spending hours in front of a single canvas. We learn so much from these experiences. We can deduce the colors of the artist’s palette. We can sometimes make out colors used as primers. We can see the kind of brush that the artist used, the nature of the strokes. We can even tell the mood of the artist as she laid down her colors—light-hearted or intense, harried or serene. Although I'm equally comfortable with conventional portraits and landscapes, I like to emphasize the cubist aspect of my work. This best represents what I am trying to express—my sense of order, how I see the world around me. I think my uncle would be proud of me. He signed his paintings Simon M. Wachtel or S. Wachtel. His canvasses still come up for sale. To avoid confusion, I sign my canvasses with my middle name, Shoel. ________________________________________ Bio-Sketch A graduate of Kenyon College and former Air Force jet pilot, Stephen Shoel Wachtel earned his PhD at the University of Pennsylvania for studies in medical genetics. An international-award-winning photographer, Wachtel turned to painting in 1990. His style is characterized by mature composition and by the use of vivid color and textured brush- and knife-work. His canvasses have been exhibited in one-man shows in Philadelphia and Memphis, and his paintings hang in significant private collections, including the Belz and Cooper Collections in Memphis and the Guardsmark Collection in New York. Wachtel lives in Memphis with his wife, Gwendolyn. In Memphis, he has paintings in the Belz Peabody Museum and in several commercial establishments around town.