Arts and Entertainment Art Theory? -- It

One could find Wisniewski diurnally perfecting one of her numerous paintings inside her cluttered beach bungalow.

BRADENTON – The first time she took a walk on powdered sand of Anna Maria Island, she said to herself, ”Dear God, never let me learn to love this place.“ Helen Romeike-Wisniewski was accustomed to more elevated altitudes, antiquated structures, and alpine winters. Today, the artist has called Anna Maria home for more than 25 years and says, ”She would never want to live anywhere else.“  

One could find Wisniewski diurnally perfecting one of her numerous paintings inside her cluttered beach bungalow, which was built by her parents in the 1950s. Surrounded by mid-century furnishings, antique memorabilia and her own extensive art collection, she utilizes acrylics to polish off her most recent masterpiece. Canvases are stacked up in every room. Her home gives the impression that decorating consisted of carelessly placing pieces wherever they would fit, but to a trained eye the colorful harmony indicates the process was contemplated. 

Wisniewski, a self-admitted recluse, doesn’t like to leave her home. Socializing distracts her from her work. Spending so much time alone allows Wisniewski to question the mysteries of her life, her art and her inspirations–She’s a modern-day philosopher. 

Gretchen Leclezio carefully an intriguing ink depiction from a stockpile of paintings.

”Wisniewski shows us a way through example that allows us to reach levels of understanding through her paintings and approach to living,“ said Virginia Bradley, the professor of art at the University of Delaware. ”We are no longer bound, or led, by the ethics of a moral society or established religion. We are left with personal choices so that we need guides to show, by their dedication and personal sacrifice, how to reach the deeper parts of ourselves.“

Wisniewski has spent most of her life avoiding input; because she feels it undermines her independent creations. Even her own son was never allowed to offer constructive criticism of her artwork. She feels that art theory is what often deters browsers from visitings art galleries. "It’s all hocus pocus,“ she says.

”Visual perception, as in visual intelligence is an impermanent thing,“ she says. ”It comes and it goes. Now you see it, now you don’t.“

However, Wisniewski is not unschooled, she received her Masters of Fine Arts from the University of South Florida in 1978. She has exhibited across the country. And her work serves as inspiration to both academic and local art circles familiar with its distinctive understandings, sensitivity and interpretations. 

While she describes her work as mostly abstract, which she prefers because it demand intelligence, colorful portraits in almost every medium don the walls of her tangled home. The mediums represent different periods of her lifetime. The richness of both her inner and outer life is evident in the paintings. Gretchen Leclezio, owner and art coordinator of the Palmetto Art Center, carefully selects pieces from every period for an exhibition spanning six decades of Wisniewski’s journey to self knowledge through painting which will be shown at the Palmetto Art Center. The opening will take place on March 3, from 5-8 p.m.

A photo of Helen in her studio in Tampa

Leclezio pulls an intriguing ink depiction from a stockpile of paintings.

”That’s my brother,“ says Wisniewski.

It was Wisniewski’s brother who inspired her to become an artist. After finding herself on scholastic probation at the University of Texas, her bother, who was also a student there, said, ”You’re talented -- why don’t you go to the art department?“

”I thought art was a waste of time,“ admits Wisniewski. ”But it isn’t a waste of time if you are trying to save your position at the university.“

She had no previous experience with art. The only evidence that she had  any artistic talent was when her brother made her listen to a Beethoven sonata and after hearing it, she cried. When she enrolled in the university art program, it sealed her destiny for the rest of her life.

Wisniewski grew up in a family that followed her father’s petroleum engineering work assignments. During her married life, Helen continued to move often, this time following her then-husband’s military assignments. Following a divorce in her mid 30s, she finally became ”serious about art.“ Although she believes that no one is completely control of his or her own life, Wisiewski’s independent streak became as vibrant as the colors reflected in her paintings and she began to control of her destiny.  

Some of her bigger canvases took up to ten years to complete. While living in a studio in Tampa, she would sleep underneath her latest work in progress, so that when she woke she could inspect the painting in the morning light. After her parents passed away, Wisiewski moved into their home in North Anna Maria where she has been ever since. A life of solitude has allowed her to focus on her inner life, one where she can ”see beyond the real world and try to penetrate the unknown.“

The exhibition at PAC will continue throughout the month of March and can be viewed during regular PAC gallery hours. For more information call (941) 518-2109.