My father, the artist Dan Wetta, now 87 years old, possibly is more productive than any other time in his life. This is my opinion, based on the fact that he has authored seven e-books and two beautiful printed books of his life’s art and cartoons in the last couple of years! Plus, he keeps painting and sharing the ways in which he sees the world. Proudly I announce, from Daniel Wetta Publishing, the artist’s latest printed book of full-color paintings and cartoons: An Artist’s Vision, Twenty-Twenty. 

In this book, my dad expands on his first with more in-depth stories of his family and friends in New Orleans. We are talking about his memories of a vibrant city in the 1930’s during the Great Depression. What a cast of characters my dad has described in this book from that time! There was no virtual world then. It was physical and sensual, with the smells of beer and bread, sweat and humidity (in a semi-tropical city before air conditioning), relief from the heat thanks to sno-balls, and justice sometimes dispensed by means of a good fist-fight. 

Dad received his high school and junior college education in a Louisiana seminary. When he joined the Army, he got stationed at Camp Lee in Hopewell, Virginia, and he met my mom in Richmond. That is when his life in Virginia began, and it led to his having two sons, two granddaughters, and five great-grandchildren, all in Williamsburg now, except my brother, Stephen, who lives in New York City.

What he did was to paint his life and the scenery around him. He has always been sharp on details about everything. Nothing goes unnoticed. What becomes interesting is how he displays those details. You see that in his art, of course, but you get a glimpse of his life philosophy and ironic sense of humor in his cartoons. When I was going about the business of publishing his works, I found myself laughing out loud when I was reviewing his cartoons. I hadn’t really noticed before how funny my father could be.

An Artist’s Vision, Twenty-Twenty is my favorite work by him…so far. I recommend this book to you. Yeah, I’m his son, but I guarantee you will feel a push on your heart a time or two, and also a good laugh.