When artist Emily Wells was 8 years old, she landed her first commissioned work of art.
“I would go around to classmates and say, ‘I’ll draw a cat for you for 10 cents; you just have to tell me if you want the eyes open or shut,’ ” Wells says with a laugh. The Grand Rapids-based artist, who grew up in Spring Lake near Grand Haven, says it was inevitable that she was going to be an artist.
The feline business morphed, of course, into other interests — like cars. Wells’ first official painting commission came her way when she was 18; the subject was a 1969 Camaro. “I really liked classic cars; I was in that scene for a good while,” she says.
Today, the full-time artist and mother of four children, ages 9, 5, 3, and 1, says she tries to paint daily in her home studio “when the kids are napping or when I have a sitter.”
On any given day, you might find her creating scenes from Mackinac Island, the Coast Guard Festival, the Grand Haven and South Haven lighthouses, and tulips, among other scenes — each depicted with assertive, bold strokes and vivid colors.
Describing her style, Wells says there’s a general theme of optimism that runs through her paintings.
“I like to catch fleeting moments and they’re generally happy, but there’s actually a layer of depth to that,” Wells says. “Life is short and I’m not going to sit around and brood, even though I experienced a lot of grief when I was a young kid.”
Her medium of choice is oil, although that wasn’t always the case. “I used to paint with acrylics, and then another artist told me I had to try oil. When I finally did, I felt like the paints were speaking my native language (by the way, she loves languages, and studied French, Norwegian, German, and Spanish). It felt so natural.”
Wells, who gravitates toward favorite shades like light yellow and turquoise (many are the Charvin brand), snaps a lot of reference photos when on nature walks with her kids. “I get inspired by their enthusiasm. Each of them keeps my child-like wonder alive.”
Some of her most well-known works are a nod to the nautical world. On many of those pieces she’s used some Debra Huse/Da Vinci Paint. “Debra (a California-based artist) has three colors that I’m so drawn to,” she shares, explaining that the shades are great for nautical subjects. The three colors Wells loves are Signal Flag Red, which can be a faded red; Anchor Green, which looks like the algae you’d see on old boats; and Marine Violet, which evokes the Great Lakes.
Besides being inspired daily by the Great Lakes State and her water-rich environs, Wells’ heritage includes maritime enthusiasts. One of her grandfathers, in fact, was a Great Lakes scuba diver. “He had some wonderful finds from back when you could treasure hunt,” she recalls. Her other grandfather was in the Coast Guard, stationed in Traverse City (he met Wells’ grandmother when she was part of the Cherry Queen court). The artist says her passion for lighthouses led her to do volunteer work at Little Sable Point in Mears (Oceana County) and Crisp Point in the Upper Peninsula’s Newberry.
Wells admits that, as an artist, she doesn’t often run into a challenge, but she recalls a time when she would steer clear of painting woods and forest scenes. “It was a daunting subject for me, but I told myself, You just have to dive in and swim, and it will eventually start looking good.” The artist also admits that she’s crazy about full compositions that make you feel like you’re in the painting. “I love a vintage look that’s busy, messy, haphazard, vibrant, and full.” A self-described “history nerd,” Wells notes her fascination with the past inspired her to begin to paint landscapes — and she’s also compelled, she says, to capture outdoor dining scenes.
Wells recently was a top 20 poster artist for the Holland Tulip Festival (her tulip painting sold, incidentally), and as this article was being written, she was putting the finishing touches on an ArtPrize entry. (ArtPrize is an international art competition and cultural festival held annually in Grand Rapids; this year it runs Sept. 18-Oct. 4.) She was selected for an art project she created that features 13 30- by 40-inch paintings depicting different Grand Rapids-area neighborhoods.
“I started researching the neighborhoods last fall and (visiting) a variety of areas, wondering how I could best capture the feeling of each. It was an emotional project for me,” Wells says. She added an interactive element to this new body of work, which includes postcards that say, “Hello neighbor, who are you?”
“You check off ‘who you are’ based on your neighborhood, and then drop (the postcard) in a mailbox, as if you’re walking through each neighborhood via the large paintings,” the artist explains. She admits a project of this size is a huge financial risk, as it requires inordinate amounts of time to complete. During ArtPrize her work will be on display at the Courtyard Marriot Hotel.
Wells is grateful for her support system, which is much needed if you’re going to be a full-time artist, she says. “I have that in my husband (Thomas Wells, of Grand Rapids’ centennial fruit farm Wells Orchards). He doesn’t fan the flames but he doesn’t stifle them, either.”
Regarding her passion for lighthouses, Wells says she stopped painting them for a while because she started to be known as the “lady with the lighthouse paintings.” But then, she happily went back to expressing her love for Michigan’s waterfront guardians. And whether her works sell or not is of no concern to her. “Why would we, as artists, waste time painting things that other people like?” she asks. 
More Information
Emily Wells participates in a variety of art fairs. Her prints also can be found at Baxter’s Somewhere in Time Gallery & Gifts, on Mackinac Island. Her original art can be found at PaLatte Coffee & Art, Grand Rapids. Prints and originals are available at SilverFire Gallery & Gifts and Gallery Uptown, both in Grand Haven.
Website: emilywellsfineart.com.
Instagram: emilywellsfineart.
