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Michelle (Basic) Hendry SCA is an award winning artist and landscape painter. She has been elected by her peers to become a member of the Society of Canadian Artists and Landscape Artists International. Michelle has lived most of her life in Ontario, but is currently living in Oklahoma.
Michelle holds an Honours Degree in History from the University of Toronto and a Diploma with Distinction in Graphic Design from Georgian College and she has instructed at Georgian College in Design. Michelle was an entrepreneur in the field of graphic design for over a decade before turning to fine art full time. Michelle studied under Scott Owles and taken workshops with David Beaucage Johnson, Pat Fairhead and, most recently, Bert Seabourn. Michelle has work in private collections in Canada, the U.S. and the UK.
Painting and the Book
Michelle started blogging about art in 2007. It, eventually, became a forum for the stories behind the paintings in the “Echoes” series. She began an adventure looking for decay and ruin and it transformed into a quest to know the history – the stories behind the buildings and why they were left to be consumed by nature.
Interviews with the owners, their families, some plucky octogenarians and long hours of poring over documents, articles and local history has now become a book. The book contains the paintings, the stories and the history of the places in the “Echoes” series. And it is finally complete.
The book will be released in September 2017. See the Book Page for the upcoming events around the release.
Please subscribe to the blog and the newsletter to keep up with news on the book release and new paintings!
Enjoy!
From Collectors:
I have been a long-time fan and over the past years have collected a number of Michelle’s works.There is an understanding in Michelle’s work that goes beyond the surface beauty of her subjects. Her landscapes reflect and pull you into the power of the land, water and sky. They could be anywhere and yet somehow they are profoundly Canadian landscapes – stark beauty from a harsh environment; life in spite of the elements. Her rural scenes are all this with the human element intertwined. Michelle’s background ensures historical accuracy down to the subtle details yet captures the emotions of the setting. The feeling of abandonment is tempered by the experiences of the structures; you can almost feel the families whose lives passed through the walls. It makes the paintings that much more poignant knowing that so many will not remain for much longer. Yet for all their neglect, Michelle has shown the beauty of these buildings – the human elements of structure and detail, but also nature’s beauty creeping along the old bones. There is no hopelessness in Michelle’s rural scenes, rather they are a picture of strength fading gracefully into nature’s arms.
~Kristi Kanitz
Favourite Quotes:
Inside each one of us is an artist. . . . And that’s what an artist is, a child who has never lost the gift of looking at life with curiosity and wonder. Art is not the exclusive possession of those who can draw, write poems, make music, or design buildings. It belongs to all those who can see their way through all things with imagination.
~ Arthur Lismer
Personally I am fond of the old; of old houses, of old furniture, of that quite special mood that these things possess.
~ Vilhelm Hammershøi
* Photo by Kelly Holinshead