About the Artist, Don Henderson. SHOW n' Tell time!
"I'm a Pittsburgh artist. Married with two children. I was educated in art at The Carnegie and at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. I've worked as a commercial artist for over 20 years. During that time I've developed an art style all my own. Art Deco and Art Nouveau heavily influenced my early art as well as 1960's pop art. By combining these elements with Celtic art and now with the help of the computer I'm able to bring something truely unique to American art. My work in the realm of Celtic Art is distinct in the fact that I combine modern and ancient styles to create a hybrid of Celtic Design that promises to take Celtic Art into the next millennium. My Celtic Crosses and Celtic Hearts are very intense and complicated. They are rendered in colored pencil, pen and ink, as well as hand imbossed. I also have a series of anthropamorphic designs I call Celtic Lace. Celtic Lace was deleted from Yahoo/Geocities because it violated their Nudity/Pornography Guidelines.
My fascination with Pin-ups was fostered by my Dad and a pin-up of MM that he had in his workshop. This and a few other things have pushed me in the direction of Pin-Up Art and Aircraft Nose art. A co-worker at Prisma, Cheryl Oliver had an old photo from WWII of a B-24 bomber and crew called NIGHT MISSION. I became obsessed with this photo. Who was this beautiful woman in the painting? Who painted it on the side of this plane? Who were the young men in the picture, 
who by now were well into their 70's?
All these question were going through my head. As it turned out the painting on the plane was based on one of the Varga Girl pin-ups from Esquire Magazine that the nose artist had used for referance, but he added his own touches too and I have a feeling the art was censored and she may have been completely nude originally. I've been a fan of Vargas ever since. The photo of Night Mission is courtesy of Len Marinaccio (standing center) of the 7th AF.
My Uncle Hink, my Dads' oldest brother, had flown on a B-17 in the 8th AF during the war, (see Henderson) but he had had a serious stroke and was unable to talk. But as luck would have it, not too long after this my Uncle Tom called my Dad saying he had gotten a phone call from a crew mate of Uncle Hink's, Del Schwab, and he was going to be in Pittsburgh for an 8th AF reunion. Well one thing led to another and we all end up taking Uncle Hink to the reunion and meeting Del and his wife Helen, we became instant friends. He told me of their missions on the B-17 they had affectionatly named THE WILD HARE.
It's amazing what these men went through for this country. I also met several other 8th Airforce vets at the reunion who lived near me and they were also very helpful in filling in the gaps and they also shared their precious photos with me .
Through my wife, I had the pleasure of meeting Monty Beswick a veteran of the 15th AF, who on finding out about my interest in his beloved B-24's, gave me his incredible collection of photos and momentoes, I will always be grateful. Monty is one of the nicest guys you'd ever want to meet. Some of the best Nose Art of the war was done on 15th AF B-24's. That's Monty in the above photo working on a B-24. He was grounded with high blood preasure after flying on 12 mission and could have gone home, but not wanting to leave all his friends behind, he volunteered to work on a ground crew for the remainder of the war.
All this has inspired my work as a Pin-Up artist and Nose Art designer. Into these art forms I brings my own unique vision. My art has been described as "Playful Erotica" and it is just that, there is an almost naughty but nice look to my Pin-Up girls, nothing intimidating about them, making the viewer fall in love with these girls next door. So many of my drawings are based on women I see here in Pittsburgh, the characteristics I like, all tend to be Celtic, like red, brown or black hair and fair skin and freckles. However, one of the most important features about a woman to me is her nose, it has to be a turned up nose or what I've heard discibed as an Irish nose, almost an impish look. To describe the look I'm after for the faces on my pin-ups, I could use as examples Bettie Page, Judy Garland, Barbie Benton, Meleny Griffith, and even Terri Wiegel to name a few. That is the look I'm striving for when I draw. You may look at the body, but the face is what will capture you. I don't always get it right, but the attempt is always there.
I have to mention and thank some people who have had a major impact on my art as well as my life. The Irish American artist Joe Fitzpatrick. Harry Leftwich, Hugh Atkins and the late Michael Rubosky at Springdale High School. Tom Walker and Dick Zdinak at DickZ Associates in Pittsburgh. Dale A. McWilliams who first introduced me to Celtic Art and culture and then of course there is my friend and mentor Gerry Nasky, one of the most accomplished Celtic artist I ever seen, a true Master of Celtic Art. Jane (Hull) Lucchino, whose beautiful colored pencil illustrations inspired me to start working in this incredible medium. I have to acknowlege too, my friend and mentor on the computer, Bruce Cridlebaugh for helping me take my work to the next level and beyond. Sorry about all the typos... Then there is the legendary Pittsburgh artist Vince Longo Sr. and his son Chris whose encouragement and friendship have been so helpful. To my friends and co-workers, Ernie Hampton, Doug Herchuck, Bob Heilman and Ray Campbell, your friendship, humor and help make Prisma fun. Ken Champion, the craziest Celt/photographer/artist/actor and dreamer that I know (that's his photo of me at the top of the page). A special mention and thanks to my friend Jack Lever and his assistant Kelly Stewart for shooting the Celtic Lace series and for all the other photos you've shot for me over the years. And last but not least, my wife Paam, my son Shane and daughter Brigid, my sister Patricia and the rest of my family for putting up with so much over the years, for always standing by me, especially my Mom and Dad, were it not for them, my dream of becoming an artist would have never happened, I owe them so much, thanks just can't cover it.
My art has always been my greatest passion , it consumes and sustains me. I live to work on my art. It is one of the few thing in life that has never let me down. I am deeply dedicated to it and never feel burdened to create. I've never felt anything akin to writers block, I'm always inspired, in fact I never have enough time to work. I'm very prolific and would rather do art than almost anything, well almost anything. I hope you all enjoy this small sampling of my art.
