And so it goes...

Betty Huwae

Betty Huwae was born in Banten, Indonesia on 16 May 1963.  As a teenager and high school student in Bandung, Indonesia, Betty became interested in art and found a particular niche and love for oil painting. Betty’s infatuation with oil painting was molded by the unique colors that she could envision, develop, and then apply to canvas. In 1982, Betty took private lessons from an Indonesian actor, painter, and camera man named Buddy Schwarzkrone. Buddy inspired Betty to balance color, shape, and space into a uniquely impressionistic style represented today in Betty’s paintings. In 1984 Betty continued to pursue a career in art through Cinematography. She studied at the Jakarta Art Institute for Cinematography and then worked for four years as an Art Director and camerawomen for the film industry in Indonesia. Although Betty enjoyed and excelled in cinematography, in 1993 her love for oil painting took center stage. Betty moved to Kiel Germany where she nurtured and further developed her unique artistic blend of colors within an impressionistic style of oil painting.  Betty now lives in Virginia and continues her love of impressionist painting. 

Today, Betty’s art is easily recognizable by her uncanny ability to blend an unusual mix of colors resulting in a sensual cornucopia of colors. In Betty’s own words,
"It took many years of experimenting before I found my present beloved style of painting. Initally, I spent my learning process by studying composition where finally I found color as my strength. I can feel mystery in color. I can see a million varieties of red, green, violet, and every color in my oil color box. I mix up 5 vermillion reds from 5 oil color brands, then I put a little of Purple Red and a few of Scarlett Red, then let God claim a new kind of red color, the red of Betty Huwae."

"I sometimes feel eerie to an unpredictable supprise when finding the proper green or red to a part of my canvas. It is really like a long, winding and tiring journey to discover a proper color."

"Creature or nature are simply a media where my colors lean on. Creature or nature are not the subject, they are just tools and not the focus. They seem to be a key to open a magic box where I keep my colors. I use many flowers, because flowers are the best tools of nature to introduce color to humans. I also use humans because they bring a lot mystery into this world and landscape because there is mystery in what we can see from far away."

"My color must be put in the right place. I mean that's not a matter of color composition, but the packaging of every single color and mode. It must be impression of lines, real or hidden, which wander about watching out surrounding my colors. Then the colors meet it's pair and marry each other in harmony. Finally, the soul of color, which has been waited for so long, is born”.