What Words Can’t Describe
Doctor Paints to Express Human Emotions

Adam Bryce Weinfeld has a lot to say, but words aren’t always enough. So, as a form of self-expression, he paints.

“People are very complex. We often fall short of connecting with each other, because we don’t know what to say, we can’t find the right words, or we assume other people aren’t interested in listening. We’re too timid to allow ourselves to be revealed,” says Weinfeld, a third-year resident in plastic surgery at Baylor College of Medicine.

Weinfeld’s work explores the void felt when we wish we had said something, but didn’t. His latest one-man show called “My Testimony” features a series of paintings on display now through Dec. 31 at Paulie’s, an Italian restaurant located at 1834 Westheimer, between Woodhead and Shepherd. Paulie’s is a well-known venue for budding local artists who have gone on to achieve critical acclaim on a grander scale.

“The show addresses the optimal scenario that would occur if we could each stand up, step forward and give a personal testimony, saying ‘this is my perspective ... this is the truth,’” Weinfeld says. “That kind of openness makes you vulnerable, but it can also result in the highest level of human connection.”

Although he started painting only three years ago, Weinfeld has always had creative leanings, perhaps germinated by familial influences of years past. His mother painted creatively for fun and commercially for a living. A fine arts graduate of the University of Maryland, she earned a stellar reputation as a sought-after graphic artist. And his grandfather designed and tailored suits exalted for their exquisite workmanship, a trait Weinfeld inherited.

“I was really good at sewing in home economics class. I paid a lot of attention to detail,” he recalls.

Unlike his approach to sewing, Weinfeld’s paintings are not detail-driven, but stem more from a “stream of consciousness.”

“It’s very impromptu ... I don’t say, ‘Now I’m going to paint X or Y.’ I just paint what is deep inside,” he explains.

His tools are simple – cotton-based paper and gouache (rhymes with “squash”) – an opaque, water-based pigment that offers up bold, rich, and pronounced colors. Some of his earlier pieces are painted with, of all things, instant coffee, concocted in various strengths – darker browns from richer blends, lighter from more diluted mixtures.

“I was starting my residency, and didn’t have a lot of money. I tried to be economical,” he explains. “Coffee provides permanent color and after a week it doesn’t smell like coffee.”

In Weinfeld’s pieces, people reach, buildings lean, faces emote. The depictions are figurative, based not on how they really look, but on how they exist in the artist’s psyche.

“Each piece is an extension of myself,” Weinfeld says.

Half of Weinfeld’s paintings are displayed on his signature sheet metal frames, which he designs and builds by hand. Highly unique and attention-grabbing, the frames draw the viewer into the artwork, making the viewing experience more intimate.

Reflecting on his medical specialty, Weinfeld acknowledges that plastic surgery, like art, is creative.

“Most surgeries are ablative, meaning their purpose is to remove something – a cancer, or a diseased organ. Plastic surgery is creative, not ablative. Its purpose is to assemble, or reconstruct something.

Paulie’s is open Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. The eats and ambience are kid friendly and adult cool. For more information call (713) 807-7271 or visit http://houston.citysearch.com/profile/9953711/.

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