Celebrating arts and culture in our community
Featured in the Springfield Beacon (September 19, 2007)
Mary HenleyPaintings stand as a reminder for her life
By Brian McClellan
For the Beacon
For Mary Henley, old barns are like artifacts. In her life-like watercolor paintings of old barns she captures the broken windows, the decayed wood, and the chipped paint which capture the story of an earlier time.
Henley and her husband Gordon moved to Springfield in 2000 from Springfield California. They had moved to be closer to their two sons, but upon moving discovered she needed spinal surgery.
“She wouldn’t have made it to the hospital, only forty- five minutes away.” Mr. Henley said. That’s when they really became thankful for the move. Their other house had stairs which had the potential to do more harm. There was also more advanced medical help in the Springfield and Eugene area then there was in their California town.
Henley’s skills in art range farther then just watercolors. She’s played with pastels, paint and sculpting. Without any formal training her sculptures retain beautiful life like traits, confirming her amazing wide ranged artistic ability. An art gallery of Las Vegas once commissioned her to sculpt an entire series but unfortunately due to arthritis she was unable to finish it.
Originally she went to college in Bakersfield, California for a nursing degree, but instead she fell in love. She was married in Lindale, California and has been married for fifty-eight years. They have two sons and one daughter. Art seems to flow throughout this family. They have a grandchild who is currently enrolled in Portland Art Institute. Henley’s husband helps with building the frames for his wife’s paintings.
Since the move to Oregon, Henley has taken it slow -- only painting small things like invitation cards. But her paintings stand as reminders, not only of places in her life, but as monuments of her amazing talent.
In her own words:
What or who inspired you to begin by our work as an artist?
Nature and old buildings inspire her life-like water colored paintings. Each nature setting is inspired by a story and every old barn was an actual location. Henley has been painting for sixty years, but even before that she was an artist. As a child in elementary school she won her first paint set in an acting contest.
What difference does creating art make to the quality of your life?
“It makes my life very enriched.” Her old barns stand as relics of another time she explained. “Artists are special people. They’re Historians. Throughout the history of mankind artists have left artifacts for future generations to find."
What legacy as an artist would you like to leave for future generations?
“I do old barns, old buildings so the young don’t forget what happened and so we have a record.”
"Morning Gossip" by Mary Henley
____________________________________________________________________
About The Artist:
Birthplace: Sterling, Oklahoma
Arts education: Self-taught
Media of choice: All forms of media, but prefers watercolors
Other hobbies: Gardening
____________________________________________________________________
