Artist Q&A: Mary Jean Henke
Mary Jean Henke is a 13-year Inverness resident and avid painter. To other artists in the area, she is perhaps best known as the co-founder of Artists Incorporated in Vestavia Hills, a gallery for Birmingham area artists to display their work.
280 Living sat down with Henke to talk about her work.
Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself.
A: My passion is art, and I spend several hours a day in my home studio.
I’m also a wife, mother and grandmother. Fortunately, my whole family is very supportive of my art career.
Q: Can you describe your art?
A: I am a non-objective painter, which most people refer to as abstract. I work in acrylics and mixed media on canvas. I rarely know what I’m going to do when I start a painting.
I just let the mood and the paint take me along for the ride.
Q: Where does your inspiration come from?
A: I am very attuned to color, and this is what influences my work the most. But I also love texture, which I incorporate into all my paintings, sometimes achieving an almost sculptural effect. I don’t work in bright colors but rather tend to use soft, mellow colors. The single compliment I hear most often is, “I love your colors.”
Q: What is the greatest compliment you’ve ever received about your work?
A: I’ve had many people tell me that hanging one of my paintings in their room “makes the room” for them and makes them feel happy every time they look at it. That is extremely rewarding.
Q: Tell us a little about your work with Artists Incorporated.
A: I am one of the founders and owners of Artists Incorporated Gallery in the Rocky Ridge section of Vestavia Hills. We’re in our 17th year and very proud of that achievement. It’s been lots of work but has also been a labor of love.
We worked for about eight weeks, every day, remodeling our old dairy barn and are very proud of it. The contrast between the outside of the building and the inside is stark — a transition from old barn to sparkling gallery.
Q: Do you have a goal for something you’d like to create?
A: I would love to do a really large painting someday. The largest I’ve ever done is 48 inches by 60 inches and I would like to do one at least two times larger.
Q: What work of art are you most proud of?
A: I think one of the paintings I’m most proud of hangs in a beautiful home in England. The man who owns it purchased it from me at the Fairhope Art Festival. It’s very difficult for me to pick favorites because I love all my “babies.”