Limelight Exhibit

Limelight Exhibit: March 2005- Billy Herrin

I grew up in Savannah, Georgia and I recall drawing at a very early
age. From pre-school through high school I was drawing when I probably should have been spending more time on math and English. I also built model airplanes and cars. It was a reasonable path that I would attend Alabama Polytechnic Institute

(Auburn) and study architecture.This allowed me to channel my interest in drawing and my interest in building things into a profession at which I could hopefully make a living.

My last quarter at Auburn Liz and I got married and I did manage to see her a few times while completing my thesis. Upon graduation I received a commission as a second lieutenant in the US Army Corps of Engineers and we spent two great years in Germany and France supervising building projects.

This was wonderful in that it allowed us to visit, photograph and sketch those classic buildings that I had studied for 6 quarters of architectural history.

In 1964 we returned to Huntsville and I began an architectural career. Over the next 35 years Harvie Jones and I created an architectural firm which produced more than 3000 projects.The firm was Jones and Herrin, and in 2001 it morphed into JH Partners.

I officially retired in 2002 and then had to decide what I would do “when I grew up.” While in architectural school I enjoyed learning watercolor techniques to supplement drawings for presentations. As a surprise in 2000, Liz gave me a series of watercolor classes with Chuck Long. I am proud to say that I am still attending Chuck’s classes!

After 5 years, I am just now beginning to understand a little about this fickle medium.With a strong drawing background,my inclination was to “draw” with the paint brush and then direct the paint exactly where to go and what to do.This does not work with watercolors, which is more like “herding cats.”The paint does pretty well what it wants to do, depending on the kind of paper, the amount of water, the consistency of the paint, and the type of brush. In a perverse sort of way, this is the excitement of doing watercolors. Each painting creates a special effect as the paint, water and paper merge to produce unique art. At this point in my painting career I have no specific philosophy or style. But it’s exciting to see things beginning to emerge in the similar manner of placing watercolor paint on wet paper.