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Local painter faces Parkinson’s with courage
Topics: gary wilder, painter, parkinsons, parkinson's, wilder
Posted by editor Wed Apr 18, 2007 12:59:25 PDT
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0 responses 0 comments “Any talent I have in art comes from my Lord. I plan to keep painting as long as he allows for His glory.”
— Gary Wilder

From drawing cartoons for the high school yearbook to painting extravagant oil on canvas masterpieces, Gary Wilder, 71, has led a colorful life of banking, harvesting and painting.

The banker, who lived on Cherry Lane for 23 years before moving to a cabin home in Alpine Forest, nurtured a farm of lilac blossoms and painted magnificent landscapes and nature scenes in his spare time. Gary retired from Sierra National Bank nearly two decades ago to pursue painting full-time.

“I have local artists who have known his work for years, and have commented on his new phase of work,” said Jim Wilson, Crossroad’s Gallery art liaison. “They seem to like the new look better. It is different.”

This new phase of Gary’s career was not planned. Wilder was diagnosed with a disease that would cause many people to have trouble walking, talking or doing simple tasks. But painting? Gary stopped for only five years before he picked up his brushes again. Parkinson’s could not hinder his love for the canvas.

“He figured he would do what he could because he loves painting,” explained his high school sweetheart and wife of 54 years, Wanda.

Going from being a strong, independent and healthy individual to being progressively and chronically ill can be hard to come to terms with.

An avid painter for more than half of his life, Gary altered his technique from photo-realism paintings of deserts, mountains and seascapes to a more impressionistic style. Gary’s precision has transformed on canvas. His change in health has changed his brush stroke, but not his eye for nature.

“What I like most about painting is the feeling of being creative and enjoying nature at the same time,” said Gary.

While the former banker keeps a home studio now, most of his earlier works are painted en plen air, an expression in French which means “in the open air” and explains the style of painting in the outside environment rather than indoors. Now, the mainly self-taught painter sketches, or takes pictures of his work before painting in his studio.

He is joined a couple of days a week by a close friend, also with Parkinson’s, in his Alpine Forest home studio. The two take time to sit and express their love for nature through art despite the debilitating disease they face.

“It seems therapeutic since he’s picked it back up,” said Wanda.

It only took Gary only a couple of weeks to create his most recent piece.

Now, the Wilder's living room is decorated with nearly a dozen originals from Gary’s lifetime of work, from “Snow at Brite Lake,” in Tehachapi to the “Pink Mountain,” in 29 Palms.

“I change them out seasonally,” explained Wanda, referring to the four paintings of their Cherry Lane surroundings. The four paintings encircle the 24 by 36-inch “Wilder’s Barn in the Snow,” which was featured on the front page of the Tehachapi News in the late seventies during a dry winter when snow photos were hard to come by.

Most of Gary’s works are for sale, except for the snowy barn.

“That one’s mine!” exclaimed Wanda.

His art has become very popular, displayed in galleries in Palm Springs, Carmel, Pasaena, Bakersfield and around town at the Kern County Library, optometrist Dr. Fagan’s office and City Hall. One woman had even been saving up for 15 years to purchase an original Wilder painting.

“She called me up and told me she had seen my artwork in the bank where I worked,” Gary explained, pleased by recalling the flattery. “I didn’t even charge her that much.”

Gary’s most recent pieces, “Aspens near Sabrina Lake,” “Canal in the Fall” and “Golden Shades of Autumn,” will be featured at the May 4, “Spring Fling” First Friday Reception at Crossroads Gallery in downtown Tehachapi.

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