Harriett Lenoir

I was born in the Mississippi Delta and spent my youth in a small city bordered by two rivers that run in opposite directions, Greenwood. Most of my life has been spent in the Mississippi Delta, the Jackson area and the Coast.

In the Delta I was inspired by the rich, earthy smells and the misty atmosphere that was always present. I attended Delta State University where I received my formal education in art earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Art Education. I studied under noted art instructor Malcolm Norwood. I spent several years teaching art in the public school systems and also private lessons.
From 2000-2005, I lived on the Mississippi Coast, and experienced the lighter air and salty breezes. My home bordered a panoramic marsh and a bayou which was filled with a bit of mystery and beautiful colors that seemed to change daily. This landscape inspired many paintings and will continue to do so as I moved back to the Coast in 2011.

After moving to the Jackson area in April of 2005, I continued painting the fields and rivers of Madison County. Working with nature “en plein air” is the best experience of the natural world to me. I use photographs also, but only as a tool to help me remember a place or composition; however, it is not a substitute for the exchange of nature, eye, and mind. William Keith stated, “What a landscape painter wants to render is not the natural landscape, but the state of feeling which the landscape produces in himself.”

Nature and the play of light are ever intriguing to me and water is present in many of my paintings—a symbol of life and grace.
I hope my paintings will give the viewer a moment to stop and be transported to a place of quiet and tranquility, and possibly a place of pleasant memories—a moment to allow nature to embrace and inspire.