Hendrickson is a master of conveying human emotion

PALMER — Here in the Mat-Su Valley we are blessed with world-class artists such as Jeanne Young, Talya Johnson, Tamora Harding-Childs and Rose Hendrickson.

If fine art requires an anthropomorphic form or figure to convey human emotion — and I think it does — then Hendrickson is the finest of Alaska’s fine artists. Her portraits in pastel reflect that human emotion.

For the past two years she’s received the Alaska State Fair “Best of Show” award, not an easy accomplishment. The nine judges, all professionals, carefully review the hundreds and hundreds of works before arriving at the honor.

This year, her portrait “Cherub” conveyed all the emotion and fear of a youthful foray into the unknown. This pastel prepared on her own grounds of Matanuska Glacier silt is the culmination of her experience as a born Alaskan and a way out of her lifelong rebellion and return to her Alaskan roots. This painting has been followed by an equally impressive “Venus de Matanuska,” again on the very same grounds as the glacier depicted.

“Growing up as a figurative artist in Alaska was challenging,” Hendrickson said. “All I cared to draw or paint were faces, forms, fingers and toes when all around me were worshipping, and in some way capitalizing upon, the incredible Alaskan experience, landscapes, flora and fauna. Tourist-oriented acrylic-laden gold pans made me ashamed for my breed and turned me more firmly from Alaskana as a subject, enlarging that silly chip on my shoulder even as many around me elevated the genre into genuinely beautiful art. Isn’t it a lovely irony that the anti-Alaskana Alaskan born and raised artist should find, as her perfect painting surface, the very dust of her home, the ground rocks of the towering mountains, the sludgy product of the relentless grinding of the shining glaciers?”

The use of pastels and her own grounds of Matanuska Glacier silt has a firm basis in history. Leonardo da Vinci produced as many pastel works, including his own self-portrait, as he did oils, and none other than Michelangelo Caravaggio used his home earths of red sienna as his grounds. This historical relevance of her work is in itself an homage to the long story of fine art.

Hendrickson has produced some other amazing works. Her Madonna series includes breathtaking depictions of young women and children. These are topical renditions relevant to today’s living. She also does commissioned portrait work.

Hendrickson is an artist and certainly thinks like an artist, but she is also an active member of the community. Currently she is president of the Palmer Arts Council, an organization best known for its highly successful summer youth programs. She also served as the president of the Palmer Museum of History and Art. She is an exceptional viola player and active member of the Mat-Su Orchestra and Flat Baroque as well as various chamber groups.

Her dream in community service is to make her hometown a crucible for artists, a place where the arts are not only welcomed, but encouraged. If the world-renowned author Eowyn Ivey is an example, Hendrickson’s efforts and the others involved in arts development in Palmer are becoming more successful.

She also is well known for “Business,” her henna work. Her booth at the Alaska State Fair is a fixture and she in known at numerous other fairs and festivals across the state.

Rose is an example to us all — artist, musician, businesswoman and community leader. Her life in Palmer these past 25 years has added to the breadth of spirit of our city.