An Artist's Inspiration

Traveling the world can be a life changing experience. Exploring unfamiliar cultures, meeting new people, and discovering breathtaking architecture and landscapes became the source of artistic inspiration for two MRC residents, Dee Wescott of Stevenson Oaks, and Diane Peters of Mirador. While the pair have never met, their journeys seem to be in parallel to one another. Walking through their respective apartments feels more like exploring incredible art galleries with a multitude of paintings covering each wall, each displaying vibrant colors that depict the many chapters of their well-traveled lives.

Dee Wescott is best described as an intuitive painter, transferring her paint brush into an award-winning work of art. While she admits that her instincts were always there to some degree, she honed them over time, bolstered by the opportunity to travel the world. One defining moment among many in her artist growth was when she took a painting tour across Italy which inspired many of her pieces that still hang in her home today. It was common for Wescott to enter her work into shows in New York, landing her a spot in the American Watercolor Society five different times. Once Wescott pushes her vision onto the canvas, it is fascinating to see her stunning take on the world around her. While her art represents a variety of muses over the years, she has found a special connection to churches around the globe. Wescott shared, “I have painted a zillion churches!”

Diane Peters was initially commissioned by the Incarnate Word Sister of Corpus Christi to paint a mural of their history which is largely in France. Therefore, they asked her to travel there to see firsthand the places she would be painting. During one of her trips, she met a sister from the Incarnate Word Sister of Kenya that pioneered the Incarnate Word African Region missions. “That was the greatest thing in my life! She guided me to walk in her footsteps to view the beautiful things she saw,” expressed Peters. With her inspiration ignited, she took up residency in Kenya for two years straight but traveled to the region for 19 years off and on to continue serving in the missions and pursuing the artwork inspired by the region. She went on to say, “You don’t know the language and the people all come around you, nobody can speak the same language, but we kind of know each other.” Over the nineteen years, the Nun she originally met in France who brought her to the tribes in Kenya, became more like a mentor and mother–figure to her, labeled by Peters as the most special relationship in her life. While there were over 500 other Nuns in the order, when she passed away, Peters was the person selected to take her crucifix to keep during her lifetime as a memento of their treasured friendship. “My heart is still over there...the most interesting place on earth,” she expressed with a smile.  

Both Wescott and Peters have lived incredible lives that have creative pieces of art that will undoubtedly be treasured for generations to come. While their artistic inspiration spurred from various opportunities to travel the world, they would each agree that an artist’s inspiration can be found anywhere given the right instinct for discovering beauty in the everyday.

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