With the Free Spirit

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 10:08:01

By Donna Rae Wisor

Wentz art sale and benefit at Beaumont Enterprise

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 20:39:36

Tattered Suitcase hosts Wentz art sale and benefit

By JANE MCBRIDE

December, 12, 2008

George Wentz gave Michael Mathews the push he needed to finally host an art event in his antiques and collectible show, The Tattered Suitcase.

"When we opened The Tattered Suitcase, the idea was to put an art gallery upstairs. After we opened, I got to know George better and he had 25 pieces he wanted me to hang in the shop and sell. I thought it would be a pretty good time to open the gallery. We're not finished yet, but it'll be in pretty good shape by Saturday," Mathews said, laughing.

What: Art sale and benefit.

When: 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Saturday.

Where: The Tattered Suitcase, 2590 Calder (at 10th) in Beaumont.

Contact: (409) 832-4500 or visit www.georgewentz.com or www.thetatteredsuitcase.com

More at Beaumont Enterprise.com

http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/local/tattered_suitcase_hosts_wentz_art_sale_and_benefit_12-12-2008.html

By Donna Rae Wisor

Spring Mountain y Wentz

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 13:55:26

By Donna Rae Wisor

Painting for Valentines by Wentz

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 13:54:02

By Donna Rae Wisor

John Marin Melody, 2007

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 10:09:45

By Donna Rae Wisor

Groucho Marx Parade

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 20:17:28

By Donna Rae Wisor

Groucho Marx Parade

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 20:10:08

A lifetime becoming an artist again

By Donna Rae Wisor
Originally published in Metropolitan Beaumont magazine Jul/Aug 2005

Artist George Wentz, Beaumont, 62 once walked 40 miles round trip between San Jose and Palo Alto, CA, to see a Pablo Picasso exhibition. His artist ‘legs’ still carry him quite naturally after a half-century of painting and writing--only now from a wheelchair in South Park in a home his father built.

Among his first patrons were Sol and Merriam Rogers of Beaumont, who collected his work for more than 35 years beginning in the late ‘60’s. The Rogers bequeathed many of those pieces to family, including their daughter Joelle.

“My mother, Miriam, started collecting George’s work years ago and it always appealed to me both in text and in its sensitivity. George is one of the few artists whose work I have held on to. I find his work hopeful and meaningful,” said Joelle Rogers in a telephone conversation from her home in Houston in 2005.

His paintings can now be found in the Art Museum of Southeast Texas, the Sinatra estate, John Denver estate and the Liza Minnelli collection and untold hundreds of homes in Southeast Texas.

The pre-1970 graduating classes at Lamar went through a program with
a decidedly commercial art emphasis. Wentz rejected this.

“I enjoyed and absorbed everything I learned at Lamar. Then I spent a
long time unlearning it.” said Wentz.

Wentz was one of three artists in the country accepted in 1979 to Villa Montalvo in Saratoga, CA, now called the Montalvo Arts Center, and was once the home of Senator James D. Phelan whose legendary hospitality made Villa Montalvo a magnet for the artists, writers and actors of his time, including Jack London, Ethel Barrymore, Mary
Pickford, Douglass Fairbanks, and Edwin Markham.

“I was able to spend a summer in a huge studio, in beautiful surroundings with the peace
and quiet I needed to really paint,” said Wentz.

And really paint he did.

Many recognize his expressionistic flower paintings, gestural lines and exquisite use of European color. His French and Cajun-French roots speak clearly through his European use of color. Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” come to mind. The effect of numerous tubes of acrylic on one canvas creates a ‘plastic’ or sculpture-like quality. His vibrant brush strokes recognize the art of Van Gogh yet maintain a definitive
Wentz thumbprint. He has a diversity of styles, ‘gestural’ painting being the most recent, as seen in Grouch Marx Parade, 2007. He calls himself, “for lack of a better term,” an abstract expressionist. Many would say he is colorful both
in his art and his nature.

"He has one of the sweetest natures I have ever known. I don't remember a time that I have ever seen him with
anything other than a smile on his face,” said Michael Matthews, a dealer and the organizer of the upcoming Wentz benefit on Saturday, Dec. 13 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Insisting that a childlike quality is the key to great art and invention, Wentz says he used to keep a little cloth cap in the glove compartment of his Buick back when he was able to drive.

“I have had that cap since I was a very young child. My Grandfather liked to call it my ‘opossum cap’ because he was always going to teach me how to shoot opossum. I love Beaumont. Life here was like something right out of a Horton Foote play,” he said.

Those whom Wentz loved best were his family and his parents Ray and
Annie Laurie Wentz. He cared for his mother for three months before she
died of cancer in 1991.

“She said I was going to be one of the best writers in the country, but I am a painter first,” he said.

After Annie Laurie died, Wentz took care of his father, Ray Wentz, who
died in 1999 at the age of 94.

“I got to know him so well then. I had to reach deep inside myself through that time,” he said.

Wentz believes he might have inherited an aptitude for the arts from a long line of artists in his family including his cousin from New Orleans; Marce Lacouture who recently released a CD called “La Joie Cadienne” and his cousin Jo Ellen Johnson an artist from Galveston. His late Aunt Mamie Hafler- Graham was well-known in the early days of the Beaumont Community Players. He also inherited diabetes and a psychosis causing him three nervous breakdowns. A victim of a
violent attack that occurred in Beaumont several years ago, Wentz says he never quite recovered from that.

“Congestive heart failure and diabetes nearly got the best of me this year. But all of the wonderful friends I have here give me the will to paint, and that is my life,” said Wentz.

Wentz has had several 'brushes' with death. But each time, with an
ecstasy of will, he manages to ward off the grim reaper. These experiences "cancelled everything but truth," he said.

Wentz recovered with a new twist in his brush stroke, reinventing his style and surprising himself. He has recently returned to pen and ink drawings.

These simply constructed drawings reveal the inherent quality in all of his works---joy and playfulness.

Wentz has plans for more reinvention and painting.

“I want to get back to nature. I want to be the kid I was— when I’m 95,” he said.

For more information about the George Wentz Benefit, call the tattered suitcase at 832-4500

By Donna Rae Wisor

Gorky Gets a New Arm by Wentz

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 13:49:33

By Donna Rae Wisor

Blow Chagall a Kiss from the Train

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 13:47:01

By Donna Rae Wisor

Blog is almost ready

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:09:32

I am setting this up for our use, but in the meantime, you can register to be able to blog. All accounts are modified so I will have to approve you before you can comment. I will be working to make this ready to use this afternoon until around 2 PM and then back on it tonight until it is finished.

Pardon the delay in getting this going but we are nearly there.

Michael

By Michael Mathews

Art Show A Great Success

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 11:30:54

Wow, what a show!

When we opened at 10:00, there was George with Angie; Donna Rae Wisor; along with Marianne Kondo, a dealer at the Tattered Suitcase, and Vivian Duplant & myself. The clock ticked away as we all chatted. 10:15 and no cars. 10:30 came and no one else stopped by.

While no one said anything, there were little thoughts dashing about. "Was there not enough advertising?' "Is something else going on in town that we didn't know about?" "What are we going to do with all this cake?"

Then the bells on the door tinkled as someone came in. The door barely shut before someone entered, then another and then it was just a flood. Soon the whole shop was elbow to elbow. George was basking in his glory as one old friend after another came by and jostled through the crowd to get near him. The shop was filled with voices and laughter. Through it all George had a grin on his face that never faltered.

Of course, there were "oohs" and "ahhs" at the art work. There was much conversation about the beautiful colors and how alive his new work seemed. Each bit of praise added a little more to George's smile. Naturally he was pleased that his artwork was admired, but it was obvious that the real thrill for him was to be surrounded by so many old friends.

For the next few hours, George was surrounded as one after another pushed close to give him a hug, a smile and get a chance to talk with him for a just a few minutes. I hate to use the cliche, but it was like "old home week". The artwork, no matter how it was admired was secondary to the artist, the old friend, the man who still has the child just below the surface.

It was really a lot of fun for all of us who care for George, to see the love and admiration of his many fans and friends who came to his show.

If you missed to show, stop by the Tattered Suitcase where his works will remain on display and for salae.

Thnks to all who came.

By Michael Mathews

April in Paris by George Wentz

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 10:04:15

By Donna Rae Wisor

April in Paris by George Wentz

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 10:02:49

By Donna Rae Wisor

A lifetime becoming a child again

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 13:58:54

By Donna Rae Wisor
Originally published in Metropolitan Beaumont magazine Jul/Aug 2005

His paintings can now be found in the Art Museum of Southeast Texas, the Sinatra estate, John Denver estate and the Liza Minnelli collection and untold hundreds of homes in Southeast Texas.

The pre-1970 graduating classes at Lamar went through a program with
a decidedly commercial art emphasis. Wentz rejected this.

“I enjoyed and absorbed everything I learned at Lamar. Then I spent a long time unlearning it.” said Wentz.

“I was able to spend a summer in a huge studio, in beautiful surroundings with the peace
and quiet I needed to really paint,” said Wentz.

And really paint he did.

Many recognize his expressionistic flower paintings, gestural lines and exquisite use of European color. His French and Cajun-French roots speak clearly through his European use of color. Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” come to mind. The effect of numerous tubes of acrylic on one canvas creates a ‘plastic’ or sculpture-like quality. His vibrant brush strokes recognize the art of Van Gogh yet maintain a definitive Wentz thumbprint. He has a diversity of styles, ‘gestural’ painting being the most recent, as seen in Grouch Marx Parade, 2007. He calls himself, “for lack of a better term,” an abstract expressionist. Many would say he is colorful both
in his art and his nature.

"He has one of the sweetest natures I have ever known. I don't remember a time that I have ever seen him with anything other than a smile on his face,” said Michael Matthews, a dealer and the organizer of the upcoming Wentz benefit on Saturday, Dec. 13 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Insisting that a childlike quality is the key to great art and invention, Wentz says he used to keep a little cloth cap in the glove compartment of his Buick back when he was able to drive.

Those whom Wentz loved best were his family and his parents Ray and
Annie Laurie Wentz. He cared for his mother for three months before she
died of cancer in 1991.

“She said I was going to be one of the best writers in the country, but I am a painter first,” he said.

After Annie Laurie died, Wentz took care of his father, Ray Wentz, who
died in 1999 at the age of 94.

“I got to know him so well then. I had to reach deep inside myself through that time,” he said.

Wentz believes he might have inherited an aptitude for the arts from a long line of artists in his family including his cousin from New Orleans; Marce Lacouture who recently released a CD called “La Joie Cadienne” and his cousin Jo Ellen Johnson an artist from Galveston. His late Aunt Mamie Hafler- Graham was well-known in the early days of the Beaumont Community Players. He also inherited diabetes and a psychosis causing him three nervous breakdowns. A victim of a violent attack that occurred in Beaumont several years ago, Wentz says he never quite recovered from that.

“Congestive heart failure and diabetes nearly got the best of me this year. But all of the wonderful friends I have here give me the will to paint, and that is my life,” said Wentz.

Wentz has had several 'brushes' with death. But each time, with an
ecstasy of will, he manages to ward off the grim reaper. These experiences "cancelled everything but truth," he said.

Wentz recovered with a new twist in his brush stroke, reinventing his style and surprising himself. He has recently returned to pen and ink drawings.

These simply constructed drawings reveal the inherent quality in all of his works---joy and playfulness.

Wentz has plans for more reinvention and painting.

“I want to get back to nature. I want to be the kid I was— when I’m 95,” he said.

For more information about the George Wentz Benefit, call the tattered suitcase at 832-4500

By Donna Rae Wisor

A Bit of Information - What & Why

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:01:54

If you have gotten this far then obviously you know that we are having an art show and benefit for George Wentz on December 13th.

George is one of southeast Texas' treasures. Not only is he a wonderful artist with a outstanding body of work, he is also a poet, someone who respects his fellow man, and has one of the sweetist natures I have ever known. I don't remember a time that I have ever seen him with anything other than a smile on his face. And that is despite these days when his smile comes while seated in a wheelchair. Despite his health issues, he is still the same. Still happy and pleasant to be around. Still creating his art and still giving to others. To say that he is "giving" is such an understatement. His life has been one of giving and caring. Right now I am hoping that we can all take the time to give back George. With his health taking a bit of a downturn, George needs us. That is why we have expanding his Art Show to also be a Benefit. Please spread the word and help us make this show and benefit a success for George.

I am sure there are many, many who can tell you of how George has touched their lives and been a joy to be around. Hopefully some of you will register here and tell of your experiences with him. And more importantly, spread the word about the benefit and let's all do what we can to help.

By Michael Mathews