Page 30 - South Mississippi Living - April, 2017

ARTS capturing emotions
Watercolor artist paints scenes
Along Beach Boulevard
story by Lynn Lofton photos by John Stricklin
Herb Willey is a Gulf Coast artist who paints local scenes. But that doesn’t mean he paints the typical pelican sitting on a post. This watercolor artist captures activities on the beach and around the area.
“I spend a lot of time observing before I paint,” he says. “I look for something different; I want to make people think about what’s going on in the painting.”
For instance, in one of his lovely paintings of birds, Willey points out the solitary figure walking along the beach, bringing the observer into the scene to think and wonder — it’s not just about the birds.
The Miami, Fla., native has spent two years painting a collection of 50 paintings he calls Along Beach Boulevard, a study of people, activities and sights located from Bayou Caddy in Hancock County to Ocean Springs in Jackson County. Why? “It’s a unique area for
a coastal community because there are so few places where people can still see nature quickly and easily,” he responds. “There’s so much happening, and I look more for the emotional part of things.”
In these paintings people are portrayed doing all the enjoyable things along the beach — walking, cycling, fishing, sun bathing, playing in the sand and water — in soft, realistic colors. “I don’t put a lot of color into my paintings, but rather paint it the way it is; what you actually see,” Willey said. “That’s why a crab will be the color of a real crab, and it will have the right number of legs. I’m a real stickler for accuracy.”
Willey sells prints of the Along Beach Boulevard paintings and says eventually he’ll sell the originals, although ideally he’d like to sell the whole group together.
At age 77, he paints what he wants to paint and is beginning a new project painting portraits. He did some portrait painting in college and feels he’s improved after studying with a New Orleans instructor. “It’s challenging to do portraits in watercolor because it’s hard to make corrections. Once you paint the eyes, you can’t move them,” he said.
Retired from the U.S. Navy, Willey continues to learn and study art. His first structured art lessons were during high school in Miami. While stationed around the world, he studied with various masters and art colonies. After leaving the Navy, he attended the University of South Louisiana in Lafayette on a scholarship as
a fine art major. He has won numerous prizes and awards at art exhibitions, received commissions for his paintings, and worked as a newspaper staff artist and an advertising illustrator.
Willey’s watercolor pieces have been juried and honored in regional, national and international shows. His work is displayed
30 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • April 2017