Wesley Bates is a printmaker and letterpress printer under his own imprint at West Meadow Press in Clifford, Ontario.
Step Inside The Wesley Bates Gallery & West Meadow Press
As you step into the studio, you are immediately immersed in a world that echoes the days when art was a true labour of love. Your eyes are drawn to pieces that step out of time and ask the audience to put themselves in a different place - a place where you are one with the piece, not just an onlooker, but a part of the story.
Where Stephen Leacock looks you in the eye and invites you to listen to a story.
Where wild salmon struggle against the rocks to spawn.
Where you stand on the battlefields of the War of 1812.
Light and darkness are woven together on the paper…as they make their journey from the wooden block to the page.
Wesley Bates is the hands behind each story, using a creative process that spans more than 300 years.
Each piece is a unique print taken from an end-grain wood block and printed on handmade paper.
Whether telling the story of a hard working farmer or the lustful embrace of first love, Wesley finds a way to weave a unique narrative into each piece whether it be levity or drama.
Wesley prefers to surround himself in the rural landscape, as he takes his audience on an artistic journey. His desire is to show rural life as a viable and vital part of contemporary culture. He sees the landscape and the objects within it as part of who we are and a way to connect with something greater.
The Artist
Online Shop
Gallery
“The sharpness and clarity of a wood engraved image, the medium’s capacity for detail and texture, and the revelation of light on a subject are the qualities of the medium which continue to fascinate me. For me the confines of the parameter of an engraving block are not a limitation. The possibilities within the space are practically endless. The scale of wood engraving fits so well in the form of a book and that is where I find my expressive outlet with narrative. I tell with symbols, gesture, context, colour and composition: the language of images.”
- Wesley Bates
Latest News
Available Work
Limited quantities of Wesley’s wood engravings are available as prints.
Works from this website may be purchased online and picked up from the Wesley Bates Gallery in Clifford, Ontario, or shipped for an additional fee.
Clip from The Artist’s Series by Ronan Bryson
Newsletter
Be the first to know about new work, special projects, and other updates.