Professor elevates puddles to art form in exhibit

When Joel Sheesley moved into his home more than four years ago, one of the things he noticed was the two puddles of water that often formed in his driveway.

His first thought was he should do something to get rid of them.

Now are they are an inspiration.

"In time, I started to notice them in terms of what was in them," said Sheesley, a Wheaton College art professor. "These puddles are always telling you a little bit different story."

For instance, there was the morning he went out to photograph the puddles and a heron flew overhead. In the unusual act of looking down to see the sky, he saw the bird cast a majestic reflection in the water.

"I thought that was some interesting poetry," Sheesley said. "I decided that's something worth spending some time with."

Sheesley ended up spending two years with those puddles, painting what he saw. The result is now on display at Wheaton College's Adams Hall Gallery.

"What you become engaged with is the tension between the sort of visual experience of the driveway, of the surface, and the reflections that occur in the puddles," Sheesley said. "It's an inversion of your own viewing position. You're looking down, so you adjust yourself, then you actually realize that you're looking up. You're looking in two directions at the same time."

Sheesley is already in the process of creating a second series of paintings based on the puddles. What seemed to be a flaw in his new home has become a gateway to a vision.

"They're kind of endearing to me now," Sheesley said. "I don't know, someday something will be done to them. But for now, I need them."

If you go

What: "New work" exhibit by Wheaton College professor Joel Sheesley

Where: Wheaton College's Adams Hall Gallery

When: 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. through Thursday

Details: www.wheaton.edu/art