Sunday, September 1, 2013

Watercolors Exhibit by Betty Derrick Opens in Art Gallery

Artist Statement

Drawing and painting have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I grew up in Greenville SC but moved to Governor's Island at the tip of Manhattan when I was in third grade. To pass the drab winter months so foreign to a Southern child living temporarily in New York, my mother enrolled me in an art class taught by a Pratt Institute graduate student. I still have a picture I painted in the class--a portrait of a bruised and battered prizefighter. I continue to wonder where I (an eight-year old) found my subject and what attracted me. It is the constant wonder of creativity that has kept me painting off and on all these years.

I paint in watercolor. I love the light, the transparency and the serendipities which spring from knowing how to manage the paint and control the brush. Many artists hate the unforgiving nature of watercolor (mistakes cannot be painted over) while I love the risk and adventure. This is a contrast to my normal personality and perhaps that is the appeal. I try to find abstract forms across objects and movement in still life. I paint a variety of subjects from whimsical to traditional.

I graduated from Agnes Scott College where I studied with Ferdinand Warren (AWS). I have also studied with Charles Reid and Atlantans Dolores Kennedy and Ben Smith. My work has been accepted into many juried shows and is held in private and corporate collections.

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