Annette Hearing
My family moved almost every year of my childhood because my Army dad would be reassigned. A new school and new friends each year – quite a challenge for a shy girl! I grew up with lots of change, a need for flexibility, and an appreciation for seeing and learning new things. That experience has impacted my whole life!
I’ve worn many hats in my adult life. After graduating from law school, I worked with legal aid services for several years before taking a leave of absence from that career after my third child was born. I loved being a full-time mom and foster mother for the next twelve years. After my fourth child went off to school, I was ready to resume my career but found that my heart had been captured by children and so turned to teaching elementary school. After completing a master’s degree in education and spending sixteen years in the classroom, I moved into administration as a school principal. When I retired several years ago, I made another total change – I turned to painting and fell in love!
I began my journey in painting with watercolors, which I still love to use. On a whim, I took a short class in painting with acrylics and liked the versatility it allows. I usually work now in acrylics and mixed media, though I return to my watercolors with some regularity.
I belong to the Arden Artists Collective and to the Delaware Valley Art League. I have exhibited at the Wallingford Community Art Center, the Knauer Center for the Performing Arts and soon at Penn Medicine at Radnor. I received the Leagueay Webber Memorial award for a recent mixed media piece.
I love being open to discover what lies inside the paints, the canvas, the paper and what they intend to become! I find inspiration in the beauty of nature and all its colors and permutations. For me, painting is an adventure that requires the change and flexibility I learned as a young child and it offers me the opportunity to learn new things constantly!
Having just returned from three weeks in Bhutan, I’m anxious to see how the natural beauty of that country and its people will impact my artwork in the months ahead.
