Sandy Springs artist combines photography and painting.
Artist and photographer Cheryl Henos has a particular specialty that brought her to the attention of area art lovers, including curators at Arts Sandy Springs and the local farmers market. She often shoots in black and white then paints color onto the finished image. It’s a throwback to the way color photos were produced more than 100 years ago.
“It’s a crazy art form, and nobody does it anymore,” says the Sandy Springs resident, 60, who started on an art career when she took her first drawing lessons at age 5. “With digital and Photoshop, the art of hand painting has completely disappeared, so I decided to do it again.”
Though she spent 32 years promoting concerts and managing local radio stations, Henos always found time for art. About 20 years ago, when her kids were small, she started hand tinting black and white pictures.
“For about a year and a half, I became a mad scientist, trying all sorts of different things to make it work,” she says. “I’m still learning, but I did figure out what tools to use with which paper, what works and what doesn’t.” Once she has a photo, Henos might use paint to turn a drab day into a sunny one or make the sky a brighter blue.
“Once, someone asked for a pink sky, and I said, ‘No problem.’ That’s what I do.”
In 2021, Henos left the corporate world to concentrate solely on her art. Organizers of the Sandy Springs farmers market saw her work and convinced her to sell it there. A representative from Art Sandy Springs also saw the photos and staged her first exhibition last June.
The exposure has connected her to interior designers who have become buyers, drawn to the unusual look Henos creates by mixing photos and painting into one creation.
Henos works with two cameras: one for monochrome, the other for color. They’re often within arm’s reach, ready to go when a photo opp presents itself.
“Since I was little, I’ve seen things as pictures, and my inspiration is in a lot of nature and humor—and cars,” Henos says. “I love cars. I also love the beach, the sunrise, bridges and architecture. I might be driving when I see a barn, a cow or a field of cotton, and I’ll jump out of the car to shoot it. I went out one morning to find things in Sandy Springs, thinking it might be azaleas, but I ended up with pictures of jonquils. Usually when I set out to do something on purpose, it doesn’t work out.”
Much of the credit for Henos’ turning a fascination into a second career comes from her family, she says. “They’ve been pushing me to pursue my creativity. Even my parents, who still live in the same house in Sandy Springs where they’ve been for years, have been part of my best support system. For years they told me, ‘You need to do art, not corporate.’ I’m a really lucky human being that I get to do that now.”
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