ST CHARLES, Mo. — Back in 1839, novelist and playwright Edward Bulwer-Lytton wrote, “pen is mightier than the sword.”
St. Charles artist Joseph Wetter believes there is strength in his paint brush, and he wants his artwork to be a vehicle for change.
You can find him putting paint to canvas in his studio.
“Whenever I feel inspired, that’s when I do it,” Wetter told 5 On Your Side.
He paints for eight hours or more on some days.
“Catch the wave and you just want to ride it for as long as you can,” he said.
The wave is a wave of creativity. It is how he gets his points across with his artwork.
“Expressing myself in ways that I can’t do vocally,” he said.
He wants the eyes to do the talking in his paintings.
“As they say, the windows to the soul,” Wetter explained.
The eyes are on the faces of people who took matters into their own hands to make a difference.
“Rosa Parks, she did. Harriet Tubman, she did,” said Wetter.
The two women along with his ongoing work on Thomas Paine are subjects in what he calls his “Rebel Series.” Historical figures he believes rebelled and fought for the rights of those who couldn’t fight for themselves.
“Each one took a different path to bring about justice,” he said.
Wetter wants his art to be the latest strokes against injustice.
“Revolution for humanity,” he said.
He hopes art motives the people who cast their eyes upon the portraits to do something.
“I want those piercing eyes to reach deep into their souls and inspire them,” he said.
Joseph Wetter is using his paint brush as his weapon of choice in the struggle for fairness.
“Use it as a sword to fight what I see as a lot of injustices that are taking place today,” he said.
If you would like to see more of his work, you can do so on his Facebook page.