I was born in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. The house was old, and my bedroom was in a garret. It was scary to find the bathroom at night, so I peed into a vent in my bedroom closet. (Unfortunately, the vent was right above the kitchen table. )
When I was seven we moved into a brand new house in East Longmeadow. My bedroom, which I shared with my sister, had the most fascinating wallpaper: Pirates! The print was very poorly registered, so the sails of the pirate ship floated off the masts and the pirate's mustache was next to his face rather than on it. I think this wall paper gave me many ideas when I returned to painting in the mid-1980's, after a long hiatus. (Peeing into the vent in the closet may connect to my photography...perhaps the early work.)
William Wegman, Funney/Strange, 1982
From 1950 onward, my mother continuously transformed the house inside and out until she died in 2001. The outside of the house changed color at least 10 times. For the longest time the house was painted sage green, my mother's favorite color.
William Wegman, Poe House, 2009
My mother was always concerned about good taste. It was years later that I suspected that she didn't have it. I don't have it. I do have an odd interest in furniture and interiors.
William Wegman, Lamp Stand, 1997
In the '90s I began to produce children's books with photo illustrations. Photography is rare in children's books and I thought that through the dogs as characters, photography would find a place.
from Chip Wants a Dog
In the sets, I got to revisit my mothers passion for furniture and decoration. In collecting furniture and props for the photos, I have an enormous and bulging collection of furniture of questionable value.
