Bio - W.C. Hemming

 

W.C. Hemming was born in Columbus in 1946 and spent most of his youth drawing cartoons and faces. His formal art training was at the Columbus College of Art and Design; He was drafted during the Vietnam War where he did time as a Technical Draftsman; he returned to Columbus and obtained a degree at Ohio State University. He loves Paris and travels there whenever possible. Hemming lives in Clintonville with his wife, Soon Ja and dog Ogie. Many of Hemming’s earlier works gained notoriety as featured artwork in Downtown pubs and bars such as the Beck Tavern, Larry’s and the Jury Room. Yes, W.C. Hemming painted the big bar scene on the wall at Dick’s Den. Hemming says some of the inspiration for his paintings was born from the time he spent with patrons at local bars. But he’s more than a painter of barflies.
"I started painting in the 1970s", Hemming said. "I used to do art in ink and pastels. But I don’t do anything but acrylics anymore. It’s just so much more fun to paint." One look at Hemming’s attic confirms his passion for painting. Hemming’s attic is filled with stretched canvases, brushes, tubes of paint and easels. Staring back at you from the dozens of completed paintings propped up around the room are the likenesses of Julius Caesar, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert Mitchum, Leslie Nielsen, and Hamlet.

While Hemming does paint abstract-style landscapes, he said he is more comfortable painting impressions of characters from books, films, and history. He dips into—among other things—literature (he has a Shakespeare series and an "alcoholic poets" series), the performing arts (including Josephine Baker, Glenn Gould and jazz musicians), France (street scenes with people), and the movies ("I’m sentimental about Bogie"). "They’re simple themes, and I add some invention," says the humble Hemming. He also describes his art as "seriocomic".

"I like to exaggerate people," he said. "I like to make their faces look very expressive and real. I want people to be able to recognize whom I’m painting, but these aren’t formal-type portraits, mind you. There’s a sense of humor in all of these."

Hemming is also a fan of boxing and recently painted a series of pieces based on the sport—a collection that includes Pandemonium, Hemming’s personal favorite. It’s one of those painting you start painting and can’t stop laughing until you finish it," he said. Hemming’s pieces are easily recognizable: the strange-stranger characters, the hilarious expressions, the vibrant color. Some of the painting are grim, but they’re made accessible by their cartoonish feel. Says Hemming, "There’s a lot of black humor."

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