DR. VARNETTE P. HONEYWOOD BIOGRAPHY
WELL-KNOWN NATIONALLY ACCLAIMED and INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED ARTIST and ILLUSTRATOR:
QUEEN of AFRICAN-AMERICAN ART (1950-2010)

Born in Los Angeles, California on December 27, 1950, Varnette P. Honeywood’s close-knit family greatly influenced her life and work. Her parents, Lovie and Stepney Honeywood, were elementary school teachers who had moved to Los Angeles from Mississippi and Louisiana, respectively. Their daughters, Stephanie Paula and Varnette Patricia Honeywood, knew of their difficult lives under Jim Crow laws of the South and their victimization by the Ku Klux Klan as well as the racial harassment they experienced upon moving into a mixed-raced Los Angeles neighborhood. Attending Los Angeles High School, Varnette experienced her share of race-related social injustices.

Varnette and her older sister Stephanie tested out the art projects that their parents devised for their classrooms. At the age of 12, Varnette began studying at the Chouinard Art Institute. She created art for 47 years. Varnette was a creative artist who had a passion for art that compelled her to constantly create art. Her early work was inspired by her grandparents’ surrounding in Magnolia, Mississippi. The young artist painted the lemon and orange trees of Southern California within landscapes of rural Mississippi and Louisiana.

At Spelman College, an historically Black women’s college in Atlanta, Georgia, Honeywood planned to major in history and become a teacher; however, under the influence of her drawing instructor Joe Ross and the community of students and artists at Spelman, Honeywood switched her major to art. She began to develop her use of brilliant colors and complex designs. Kofi Bailey, a figurative artist whose work was infused with social consciousness, was a major influence at Spelman. Honeywood’s participation in the Civil Rights Movement and other protests led her to realize the importance of visual arts in the struggle for human rights.

Honeywood earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Art from Spelman in 1972, her Master of Science degree in Education, and her teaching credentials from the University of Southern California (USC) in 1974. She earned an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from Spelman College in 2005. As a graduate student, she taught art at the Los Angeles Central Juvenile Hall. Following graduation, Honeywood began teaching art and designing multicultural arts-and-crafts programs. Creating positive visual images for Black children became one of her major goals.

Well-known nationally and internationally renowned artist and illustrator, Varnette P. Honeywood, is highly regarded for her use of color and light, patterns and textures. Her work, primarily paintings, collages, prints mixed-medium art, lithograph, serigraph, silk screen, monoprinting, oil on canvas, watercolor, watercolor with gold leaf, ceramic tile, acrylic on paper, acrylic on canvas, pen and sketch, and pen and ink, has received wide exposure in galleries and individual and group shows as well as in books and on television. Honeywood is famous for her upbeat depictions of Black family life. Carrying on the tradition of genre painting, a Black artistic movement that followed in the wake of the Harlem Renaissance, her work portrays Blacks in a range of settings, going about various activities, always stressing the colorful and creative aspects of African-American culture. Her work tells stories and communicates ideas and thoughts.

Much of Honeywood’s art concerns the history of African Americans, their sufferings and triumphs, and celebrates the strength and leadership of Black women. Honeywood told Contemporary Black Biography (CBB) that her art is sometimes described as “figurative abstraction.”

Honeywood told CBB that among her major influences were William H. Johnson. Her early mentors were Samella Lewis and Romare Bearden. She also credited Elizabeth Catlett, “particularly her political influence,” and Jacob Lawrence, “for his documentation of a particular aspect of one’s history.” Another mentor was Ruth Waddy, whose work Honeywood published as note-cards. Honeywood’s portraits often emphasize the silhouette or black profile, an artistic expression dating from the 1960s.

Cecil and Miriam Fergerson served as her mentors and curators. Also, the Reverend Greg Pitts served as a curator as well.

Honeywood began turning her acrylic paintings into prints and note-cards. In 1975, Honeywood and her sister Stephanie, a linguist, writer, and poet, were among the first to enter into the “Black-themed” art-greeting-card business. They founded a successful business, Black Lifestyles Fine Art, to publish and distribute Honeywood’s note-cards, posters, and prints. By 2005, the business had three components: a fine arts division, representing Honeywood’s work; Black Lifestyles Classics, publishing and distributing her art, particularly her reproductions and note-cards; and an educational component that Honeywood described to CBB as supplying “any information to teachers, collectors, and the general public that we can provide.”

In the 1980s, after quitting her job as Director of Art Outreach Program at USC, Honeywood met actor and author Bill Cosby and his wife Camille Cosby who had discovered Honeywood’s work on note-cards. A reproduction of her 1974 painting “Birthday” and many of her artworks were seen in every room of The Cosby Show that ran from 1984 until 1992 and was viewed by over 35 million viewers each week. Later her paintings and other artwork formed the backdrop for Cosby’s Kids Say the Darndest Things. Honeywood’s art career expanded and her notoriety was enhanced. Cosby had sparked Hollywood’s interest in Black art and Honeywood’s work subsequently appeared on other television series, including Amen, Golden Girls, A Different World, 227, and Cosby. Varnette’s artwork appeared in movies: Bustin’ Loose and Beauty Shop. In 1996, Honeywood created a collage for the dedication of the Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby Academic Center at Spelman College.

During the 1990s, Honeywood illustrated a series of 12 books by Bill Cosby, the Little Bill books for beginning readers. Honeywood told Trescott: “I take images from life and interpret them in scenes. I always wanted to bring these characters to life. My challenge was to create a character and series of illustrations that would be in line with my artwork that would be true to me.” Honeywood’s illustrations were consistently praised for their color and energy and enrichment of the stories.

Little Bill was made into an animated television series based on Honeywood’s illustrations. She designed the characters and contributed to and consulted on the program that was broadcast on Nick Jr., Viacom, CBS networks. Currently Little Bill can be seen in syndication on several networks. Little Bill won a 2001 Peabody Award, a 2004 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children’s Series, and a best-selling series, Oprah Book Club list. Varnette appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show as the illustrator of the Little Bill series.

Trescott quoted Bill Cosby: “Certain art in our culture depicts a down feeling about how African- American people are treated. They are poor and needy or need help in righting the wrongs. Varnette’s work lets us not forget the personal joys.”

In 1990, Honeywood, while continuing to paint, began working extensively with monoprinting. She described this process to the CBB as the use of “paint and drawing and stencils on top of a flat surface such as plexiglass or metal with paper on top and passing it through a press. This allows the artist to create layers and to add various things.” Honeywood used a solvent to obtain a skin quality in her characters analogous to African scarification, as African cultural tradition that is similar to tattooing. Her work also incorporated a sense of African rhythms and textiles. She told CBB that painting and monoprinting provide her with the different types of creations and experiences. “Adinkra Quilt,” an exhibit of her watercolors and monoprints, was featured at the Los Angeles Museum of African American Art in 1994, and exhibited at Watts Towers.

Honeywood also created the art for various other organizations, including Girls Inc., the National Association for Sickle Cell Disease, and the United States Labor Defense Fund. In 1990, Honeywood was commissioned to create a work for the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta entitled “Generations of Creative Genius.” It depicted a dancer, a writer, a painter, and a musician in African dress.

Honeywood had remained close to her large extended family and served as the family caregiver. Also, in 1990, her sister Stephanie developed multiple sclerosis and eventually became severely disabled, inspiring Honeywood’s “The Caregiver.”

In 1993, Honeywood donated the artwork and signature logo for the Black Community Crusade for Children (BCCC). Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), was quoted by the Columbus Times of Columbus, Georgia: “We wanted to convey the ideas of love, warmth and unity, which represent the mission of the BCCC. Varnette Honeywood was the first and obvious choice to create the BCCC logo.” Honeywood also created the poster for the CDF’s campaign for preventing teen pregnancy and for their “Beat the Odds” 1990 awards ceremony.

Honeywood’s stylized church scenes, known as “inspirational art” have been sold as fund-raisers for Black congregations. Many of these scenes include the traditional flamboyant church hats of Black women. Honeywood told the Washington Post in 1997: “This is my mother’s influence. My mother is very tall and she would wear those large hats, and I can just remember looking up and through them.”

Honeywood told CBB that she wants to “tell my personal story as an African-American woman during a particular time period. Like many Black children in LA, I was taken back to Mississippi in the summers. I grew up in the Black Arts Movement and was exposed to Black artists. I see myself as a part of that legacy.”

Much of Honeywood’s art has an historical theme, and she has used a variety of sources for her research. Her involvement with the National Conference of Artists enabled her to network with art historians and with artists whose work utilizes Black history. Honeywood told CBB that her frequent use of “symbols and images appropriated from other cultures” presents a special challenge since they must be used appropriately and she has to take particular care to “not use symbols and ideas that conflict.”

Honeywood’s art has appeared on various trade-book jackets, including all of Tina McElroy’s books as well as in textbooks, on film, and other media. She illustrated Mari Evan’s book on teenage pregnancy, released in 2005. Her work is included in numerous collections throughout the United States and Africa. In 2002, the USC Black Alumni Association and the USC libraries paid tribute to Honeywood with an art exhibition in honor of Black History Month. “Trojans of Ebony Hue: Varnette P. Honeywood, Portrait of a Cultural Artist” was a two-month long exhibition of her artwork, books, photos, quilting, ceramic works, and memorabilia.

She told CBB that she “loves working with young artists” and in the future hopes to teach at a university and participate in more artist-in-residence programs. However, She states: “My main goal is to be a creative person and artist.”

Varnette Patricia Honeywood stated, “My art is my work and my life.”

Click here for a listing of Varnette's Awards, Books, and More!

-

Source: http://biography.jrank.org/pages/2856/Honeywood-Varnette-P.html
Revised and uploaded by family members-Professor Joyce F. Allen, Professor Jennell Allen, Professor Carolyn Allen Roper, Tiffany L. Allen and Sherice Carol Ann Roper