Linda Guenste - Art for the Mind and Soul

For Linda Guenste, inspiration is unpredictable. A breathtaking image of nature may call her to paint but so might a gas mask or a toy gun. The artist, who for nearly three decades has made her living as a painter, admits she has two distinct styles. And the walls of her studio in Chalfont, which she shares with her husband, sculptor Jonathan Hertzel, announce the two approaches to her craft. On one wall, there are dozens of nature scenes – many of them stately trees with thick roots of all sizes. On the other, Guenste’s fascination with using objects as metaphors is evident. There are images of children with guns and dolls wearing gas masks. These images, which Guenste calls “social realism,” have remained her focus in recent years.

“A lot of this work, to me, promotes dialogue, and I like to talk about the issues,” says Guenste. Her son, who years ago asked for an Airsoft gun as a birthday gift, inspired her series on children with guns. Guenste was reluctant to make the purchase. Toy guns, she says, were never anything the family had around the house, and Guenste was unsure if she was comfortable with the idea.

In the end, her son threw himself his own birthday party. With the money he received as gifts, he purchased his own pseudo-weapon. Guenste was quick to recognize the artistic inspiration in her child’s behavior. “When I started, it was about my son’s transition out of innocence,” she explains. “I was using the gun as a metaphor.”

But the project escalated as Guenste became fascinated by how children react to guns. “When people with kids would come over, I would just leave the guns out and see what the kids did with them,” she says, adding the results were intriguing. Her niece picked up a toy gun and pointed it at her beloved stuffed panda. Another young boy aimed it at Guenste’s cat. Something about the gun motivated the otherwise peaceful children to act out of character.

From there, another inanimate object served as Guenste’s muse. “I had a gas mask – I don’t even know where I got it – and one day I decided to put it on a teddy bear,” she says. The image of innocence wearing a symbol of war made her laugh. On a whim, she decided to paint it. The result was another important metaphor. She calls her series of gas mask paintings – of which there are more than 100 and feature children and stuffed toys – “the idea of protection”.

The gas mask, with its tube that dead-ends in midair, wouldn’t protect against anything, Guenste likens it to the Cold War-era practice of instructing schoolchildren to hide under their desks in the event of an atomic bomb. “If there was an attack, what would the desk do? People just felt better because there was a plan,” she says. “All of this work is about the idea of protection instead of actual protection.”

Even as she is provoking dialogue with her social images, Guenste continues to paint landscapes. “I flip-flop back and forth. It’s comforting for me to go out and paint a tree,” she says, adding, “Every year, I go on a trip for inspiration.” Her travels have taken her throughout the U.S. from Arizona to Maine and have resulted in dozens of paintings of canyons, rocky coasts and mountain scenes. She has also traveled abroad; however, these trips more often serve as inspiration for her soul and don’t necessarily result in the imagery portrayed in her work.

Presently, Guenste is working on a collection of small portraits she’s dubbed the “500 Head” series. “Jonathan [Hertzel] and I would hit the road and do 250 portraits of the people we encountered,” she says. “I decided to start the series in the studio, not knowing how long 500 pieces would really take. After not doing any faces or personalities for a while, I thought it was a good change of pace with a positive outlook.” In contrast to her social realism, these subjects “have to be smiling,” she says.

Her work has been featured at various galleries and shops in Bucks County, Philadelphia and beyond. Most recently, she has exhibited at the Vine and Fig Tree Bistro and Estetiks shoe boutique in Doylestown. She also offers group painting classes weekday evenings at her studio.

And while Guenste’s work continues to challenge social norms and promote thought-provoking commentary, she never loses sight of the opportunity the canvas affords her. Guenste says she’s grateful she has been able to turn her passion for art into a living. “There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t count my blessings,” she says. “This is like a dream life for me.”

Go online at lindaguenste.com