Artist Linda Wise evokes the weird and wonderful in her art

Artist Linda Wise hopes to show older and newer generations the wonderful world of the weird.

Wise finds the beauty in the strange, odd, and downright out-there concepts.

“I have an interest in a lot of oddities and I think that art should be available to everyone. And to make it available to everyone, you have to make it fun and interesting,” Wise said.

Wise’s art evokes her childhood days, having worked with oil paintings since she was 12 years old. Those inspirations surround her studio space with strange nostalgia and items from bygone eras.

Wise’s space evokes her childhood days in San Francisco visiting the seaside park Playland.

“I really always like to experience the art and also the ocean and a Victorian downtown like this and also experience a memory. So somebody can connect a memory with saying these strange things that I have with that memory of coming to Eureka,” Wise said. “And just say ‘hey remember back in 202[4] When we went to that woman’s studio and she had all that weird stuff?’”

Wise’s work features the faces of clowns, something that many people fear. Wise herself is also afraid of clowns and conquers that fear by painting them. 

But really, the fear and panic of the pandemic came into play when creating her pieces.

“A lot of scary things have happened. It seems like the only way to describe it is that it’s been clownish,” Wise said. “That was during a time when art wasn’t selling well and gave me the opportunity to just let go of some strange energy during that time and putting it on a surface and not worrying about things selling.”

Wise hopes to not keep worrying about her art long after retiring from her day job.

“I just wanna do what’s fun. I’m looking forward to not taking myself seriously anymore and I wanna help myself and other people lighten up,” Wise said.