Morgan Weistling

Morgan Weistling was born in 1964.
He  studied art at an early age with his father, a former art student. His parents both met at art school. His father, Howard, a POW in Germany, entertained his fellow American prisoners in Stalag 1 with a daily comic strip that he created and drew to keep morale up. Drawn on scraps of paper found on the prison grounds, he crafted a humorous world of characters that managed to bring a smile to imprisoned soldiers. In the last days of the war and feeling the Russians would be coming, his talents with painting saved his life. Using some paints supplied by the Geneva Convention, he painted a American Flag on the shoulder of his prisoner uniform so that the Russians invading Germany would identify him and not shoot him. It worked.

Weistling’s father came back from the war with dreams of being an artist. With the G.I. Bill, he took classes at Woodbury Art College in Los Angeles where he met Morgan’s mom. After marrying and starting a family, Morgan‘s father had to abandon his artistic dreams and support his new family by becoming a gardener. But, he saved all his art books…..

Morgan, much younger than his brother and sister, began his artistic training as early as 19 months old. His father would sit with him on his lap at night and teach him how to draw and use his imagination. ” My dad and I bonded together with drawing and spoke to each other with pictures”. Weistling’s father had a real talent for telling a story in comic strip form and so it began in Morgan, a natural sense of the narrative.”It was here that art became a language for me”.

That led to his studying the art books his father had acquired years earlier. Authors such as Andrew Loomis, Vanderpole, and Bridgeman. The most important books, though, were the volume set from the Famous Artist School.

At the age of 12, Weistling was determined to go through the entire course on his own since the school was no longer in existence. By the age of 15, his study of anatomy, drawing, and painting needed a mentor’s direction.

While still a student and working at an art store, one day a prominent illustrator came in for supplies. Weistling showed him his student work. The next day he found himself employed at one of the top movie poster agencies in Hollywood. “At that time, all I wanted to be was an illustrator,” Weistling says, “but that was amazingly fast.” For the next 14 years he illustrated for every movie studio in Hollywood as well as many other fields of illustration.

After being art-directed for years, Morgan needed to paint something for himself. He took time out to produce a painting of two children and brought it to Scottsdale Arizona on the advice of long time friend, Julio Pro .

The first gallery he walked into signed him on the spot, Trailside Galleries. Co-owner Maryvonne Leshe was quick to spot new talent. She was soon proven right. “He would send his paintings to us un-framed and before we could get them hung, they would be sold,” quips Maryvonne. Soon a “draw” system for Weistling’s paintings became necessary. His first one-man show had 26 paintings and all were sold opening night. Since then, Morgan has had five more one-man shows and they sold -out opening night as well.

Also interested in depicting his Christian faith, Morgan has portrayed the life of Christ in many of his paintings. Those images can be found in the best selling book, The Image of Christ, with paintings and text by Morgan.

Greenwich Workshop publishes his paintings as giclee canvases.

Morgan and his wife, JoAnn, have been married since 1990 and also met in art school. JoAnn is represented by Trailside Galleries and paints under the name “J. Peralta” in honor of her grandmother. She also exhibits in the Master’s show at the Autry Museum. They have two daughters, Brittany and Sienna, models for paintings frequently.

 

www.morganweistling.com/

 

Facebook

morgan-weistling52
3

morgan-weistling67 morgan-weistling66 morgan-weistling65 morgan-weistling64 morgan-weistling63 morgan-weistling62 morgan-weistling61 morgan-weistling60 morgan-weistling59 morgan-weistling58 morgan-weistling57 morgan-weistling56 morgan-weistling55 morgan-weistling54 morgan-weistling53 morgan-weistling51 morgan-weistling50 morgan-weistling49 morgan-weistling48 morgan-weistling47 morgan-weistling46 morgan-weistling45 morgan-weistling44 morgan-weistling43 morgan-weistling42 morgan-weistling41 morgan-weistling40 morgan-weistling39 morgan-weistling38 morgan-weistling37 morgan-weistling36 morgan-weistling35 morgan-weistling34 morgan-weistling33 morgan-weistling32 morgan-weistling31 morgan-weistling30 morgan-weistling29 morgan-weistling28 morgan-weistling27 morgan-weistling26 morgan-weistling25 morgan-weistling24 morgan-weistling23 morgan-weistling22 morgan-weistling21 morgan-weistling20 morgan-weistling18 morgan-weistling17 morgan-weistling16 morgan-weistling15 morgan-weistling14 morgan-weistling13 morgan-weistling10 morgan-weistling12 morgan-weistling9 morgan-weistling11 morgan-weistling8 morgan-weistling7 morgan-weistling6 morgan-weistling5 morgan-weistling4 morgan-weistling3 morgan-weistling2 morgan-weistling1

morgan-weistling-was-born-in-1964 morgan-weistling-196462 morgan-weistling-196461 morgan-weistling-196460 morgan-weistling-196459 morgan-weistling-196458 morgan-weistling-196457 morgan-weistling-196456 morgan-weistling-196455 morgan-weistling-196454 morgan-weistling-196453 morgan-weistling-196452 morgan-weistling-196451 morgan-weistling-196450 morgan-weistling-196449 morgan-weistling-196448 morgan-weistling-196447 morgan-weistling-196446 morgan-weistling-196445 morgan-weistling-196444 morgan-weistling-196443 morgan-weistling-196442 morgan-weistling-196440 morgan-weistling-196439 morgan-weistling-196438 morgan-weistling-196437 morgan-weistling-196436 morgan-weistling-196435 morgan-weistling-196434 morgan-weistling-196433 morgan-weistling-196432 morgan-weistling-196431 morgan-weistling-196430 morgan-weistling-196429 morgan-weistling-196428 morgan-weistling-196427 morgan-weistling-196426 morgan-weistling-196425 morgan-weistling-196424 morgan-weistling-196423 morgan-weistling-196422 morgan-weistling-196421 morgan-weistling-196420 morgan-weistling-196419 morgan-weistling-196418 morgan-weistling-196417 morgan-weistling-196416 morgan-weistling-196415 morgan-weistling-196414 morgan-weistling-196412 morgan-weistling-196413 morgan-weistling-196411 morgan-weistling-196410 morgan-weistling-19649 morgan-weistling-19648 morgan-weistling-19647 morgan-weistling-19646 morgan-weistling-19645 morgan-weistling-19644 morgan-weistling-19643 morgan-weistling-19642 morgan-weistling-19641 morgan-weistling-1964 morgan-weistling-x morgan-weistling-9 morgan-weistling-5 morgan-weistling-7 morgan-weistling-6 morgan-weistling-8