PSNC Member Portrait
My Inspiration is Nature
by Betty Hendrix, member PSNC
My inspiration is nature! My father loved music, flowers and birds, and back roads, and he passed that trait on to me. Thus, the majority of my artwork is scenic or close-up of wildlife. I especially am enthralled with birdwatching, and I include or feature birds a lot in my art work.
My sister loaned me a book she had enjoyed a few years ago about an Eskimo family. They had a belief that a wren in your kitchen was a sign of good luck. I have become quite friendly with my local wrens. I eat breakfast on my deck every morning in the warm seasons and talk with the wrens who seem to congregate around my kitchen window, usually nesting in hanging baskets around my porches. One did fly into the house one December evening when I surprised it as I went out to turn on the porch tree lights.
I have been a photographer for years and am thrilled with the new digital equipment which gives me a chance to zoom in and get birds up close and personal – even in flight. I spend many hours watching all kinds of birds in the Carolinas and then spend days or weeks using them in my artworks. I have several sites where I know what to look for when, and I am patient in the search.
My bluebird pastel was from a photo I shot at a local farm producing fresh produce chemical-free. A bunch of our local photographers and artists went there pre-dawn to paint or photograph (to paint later). The farmer had all kinds of feeders and bird houses for the bug-catching crew. I have done many pieces of art from that one morning.
In scenics, I am usually looking for special light or a special memory of a moment. I delight in drawing and painting my special memories! I am not anxious to part with my paintings — and yet I am thrilled when someone likes one enough to purchase it. I have had a major thrill living it in that special moment – and again in all the hours that I worked it to completion as a painting. Let someone else enjoy it also.
