Henson appreciates the therapeutic value of art

After being closed for a couple of months, the Graceful Arts Gallery kicked off June with the First Friday Art Walk in Alva. The evening provided a feast for eyes, ears and stomach. This month the gallery is featuring Art on the Salt Fork, displaying the work of Lauren Florence, Heather Henson and Deborah Burian. Those who missed the evening can still visit the gallery to view the art all month.

Local musicians David Engle and Jeff McAlpin hovered in the shade of an adjacent building entrance as they sang to their own accompaniment. A bench and chairs were provided for listeners to linger. Tantalizing refreshments were displayed on a table inside the gallery.

Heather Henson

Henson attended the Friday evening event to visit about her paintings with those attending. She took time out to talk with us about her path to this exhibit.

Quiet by nature, Henson would prefer to let her art speak for itself. She liked to sketch when she was younger. She took some art classes in high school and college on her way to a career in healthcare.

Vacations usually included looking up art galleries. "I've always enjoyed seeing what people create," Henson said.

After college, she started taking classes. She described Bert Seabourn of Oklahoma City as "a huge mentor for me." In his classes, students painted subjects like horses, buffalo and people's faces. "I am still drawn to those things to paint," she said.

Her paintings at the gallery include a large painting of a Native American man, running bulls, horses and several portraits.

Then she faced a crisis. "My mom became ill with early onset Alzheimer's," Henson said. Going to classes came to mean more than learning to paint. Her class included a group of supportive friends. "It was great fellowship for me," she said.

But the art itself became a respite. "I did find that those hours of the week I set aside to take class or to paint ... I could forget about what was going on and not worry," she said. "It was very therapeutic for me."

Henson has found that experience to be helpful in her healthcare work. With her patients, "if they are having issues with pain or depression or other things" she tries to engage them in a similar pursuit. That may mean adult coloring books or something of that nature. "What I learned from doing art, I try to pass along to them."

Art always had been more for herself – her own learning and enjoyment and therapy. But in the last year or two, her friends have encouraged her to share her paintings with the public. "It's challenging for me," she says with a shy smile, "but I've been so grateful for the opportunities to do that."

If you're going to Oklahoma City and want to see more of Henson's work, you'll find her through the North Gallery and Studios. She says the gallery, which is owned and run by friends, "is really great." She also has an Instagram account under Heather Henson Art, and she's working on a Facebook business page to debut soon.