Wendi Winters, A Hero in Our Time

Wendi Winters
Local News Reporter and Community Columnist, Annapolis Capital

"Wendi Winters was born May 25, 1953; a fact which she would deny whenever possible. Many of her co-workers only learned her true age after her tragic passing.

Wendi never intended to become a journalist, but began freelancing for the Capital after she wrote a letter to the editor about the Quiet Waters Park ice rink. Later she began to work full time for the Capital Gazette as a journalist and then as an editor.

Wendi Winters loved her job, her work family, America, and Freedom of Speech. Her family firmly believes her heroic sacrifice was to protect her coworkers is worthy of the Presidential Medal of Freedom." -- Winters Larca

Artist, Abigail McBride
Wendi’s daughter, Summer, was my family connection. We spoke over video calls about different family stories, Wendi’s experiences growing up, inside family jokes and more. Because I had known Wendi I found myself taking inspiration from my own memories of her forceful personality and Summer’s descriptions of her. I brainstormed on the images and stories I had until this compositional idea emerged around what Wendi would tell her clients when introducing herself "I'm Wendi Winters, like a bad weather report". Using her own words, I created a sense of danger and preparedness, along with a poppy field from Wendi's childhood where she unwittingly survived her first gunshots. In the painting the green umbrella is her shield and weapon. I chose that green to represent the recycling bin Wendi used to block the attacker and save lives.
Working this way gathering many references from different eras of her life and putting her in a surreal landscape outside of time is new for me. I wanted to honor Wendi’s spirit not just in a likeness but even in how I approached the process of making. So, I went way outside my comfort zone and experimented with an almost wild abandon making an art piece to honor Wendi’s love, creativity and courage.