Artist seeks truth through creation
"Art is just a way to discover truth," said the 91-year-old artist. "I could paint and paint and paint until the day I die and I would never get to the end of the truth."
Weaver, a retired Brigham Young University professor who taught art at various different Utah schools for more than 40 years, fully intends to test that theory, too.
When asked how many pieces of art he's created over the years, his face went blank. "Hundreds, maybe?" he said, unsure of how even to guess. He finished his last painting, a stunning 2-by-5-foot rendition of the red-rock cliffs at Zion National Park, on his hands and knees. Because of a torn ligament, he couldn't raise his shoulder to complete the brush strokes standing up. "I'm 91 years old," he said. "But if the Lord will permit me, I'll paint on the way to heaven or hell."
Weaver does more than paint, though. He considers himself well versed in more than 14 different mediums, including ceramics, printmaking, glass, wood and fiber. The beautiful mosaic-topped tables and sleek pottery decorating his home are proof of his versatility. His favorite medium? "The one that I'm working at the moment," he said.
It is exciting, he said, to stretch students and then watch as they grow to meet expectations. He doesn't believe, although his wife Ruth respectfully disagrees, that it took any special gift to produce any of the artwork that fills his home. "No two people paint alike — and that's the way it should be," he said. "All people have the ability to create art."
The difficult part, he said, is teaching people to recognize the beauty that surrounds them. Over the years, Weaver has made a point of developing what he calls his "peripheral vision." Stop worrying about stumbling and look around, he said.
Weaver's oldest son, Kimball Weaver, 66, who now lives in Cedar City, said his father spent a great deal of time trying to instill the love of natural beauty in him. They frequently took hikes together. Max Weaver got lots of painting done, and his son earned a Silver Beaver award in Scouting. "If I had to describe Dad and his artwork in one word, it would be red rocks," he said. "He loves painting the landscapes of Utah."
Max Weaver, who has done 68 different renditions of the Arches National Park alone, is well known for the affinity he has for his artistic interpretations of Utah.
"We have some of the most choice spots in all the world," he said. "A person could go to any one of those parks and paint a hundred pictures from each park and still never touch the surface."
E-mail: estuart@desnews.com
Recent comments
Perhaps truth, like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder.
Anonymous | Feb. 27, 2008 at 6:44 a.m.
Truth? Perhaps Mr. Max Weaver never gets to the "end of the...
Harris | Feb. 23, 2008 at 4:05 p.m.
Does Max just keep his work in the house and nobody sees it but friends...
MaryT | Feb. 23, 2008 at 10:46 a.m.
