Pere Henderson:
Painter of Tar

By Harriet Nilson

Local artist Pere Henderson appeared down the coast at UCSB this week to show his latest collection of paintings, "Women with Questionable Values." Mr. Henderson, a sometimes real estate agent and familiar face on the local art festival circuit, said that his latest paintings, comprised of oil and tar, were a new direction for him.
  "You know when you hear about the so-called quantum leap?" mused Mr. Henderson. "Well, this was that kind of leap for me."
  Known mainly as a likeable estate agent who paints barns, fields and horses, the affable Mr. Henderson came upon his "quantum leap" while swimming at the beach off of Three Hills, the small beach town where he lives, just south of El Fornio city.
  "I had just come out of the water, in a pair of new white trunks," Mr. Henderson explains, "And would you believe it, I had tar on them. Well, I tried to remove it with a flick of a finger and it made a mark. Then it made another [mark] and I just suddenly had an idea."
 

Henderson went on to explain that tar and oil have been a commodity for thousands of years and are today, in essence, the international gold standard. The platforms off of the California coast are mainly named after women. "In the tradition of men naming sea-going ships after women," Henderson points out. In our own backyard, the platforms off of El Fornio county are well known to be named after the legendary Abraham Librado's wife, Maria, and their two daughters, physician Pearl and her younger sister, the Olympian-turned-designer, Janet   "I really enjoyed myself down at UCSB," Pere notes. "I had a great time at the opening and, although they didn't have the rosé wine I had wanted, everything went really well . . . Did you know that rosé is really a mixture of chablis and bergundy?" he smiled. Mr. Henderson's plans for the future seem to be the same as his usual schedule. He will keep his business interests so that his afternoons are wide open for painting and tennis.
  "I don't know where all of this is leading," he offers. "But I am keeping my mind open. You never know when the next 'quantum leap' may hit you."

Pere Henderson's "Women with Questionable Values" shows at UCSB Department of Art's Gallery 1492, from May 15 until May 21. Admission is free. For more information,
call (415) 893-3138