Story49: The Painter and the Animator

“All of my fears may chase me down and swallow me up
Grind my bones into fodder but
I will rise out of the ashes
And conquer terror.”
These lines come from the spoken word poem that accompanies Vanessa Sweet’s short animated film, “Wild Woman.” They also describe the two artists featured in this month’s Story49.
Don Henry is a painter from Kotzebue. Vanessa Sweet lives in Shishmaref and makes animations. Both of them are practicing artists inspired by their own life experiences and the greater Alaskan experience. And both have pushed past self doubt in order to “rise out of the ashes” and create. In this episode, we’ll find out how they became artists and, to the best of our ability, “listen” to some art!
To hear all that plus the rest of the poem above, tune in to Story49 on KNOM (780 AM, 96.1 FM) on Sunday, June 18th, at 6:00pm, and then again on Thursday, June 22nd, at 3:00pm. You can also listen online using the audio player above.
If you or someone you know has a story to share, contact KNOM at 443-5221 or by email at story49@knom.org.
Story49: Sharing your story, your voice, your Alaska.
You can see more work from Don Henry and Vanessa Sweet by clicking through the gallery below.
- Don Henry fills his palette with primary colors. Photo: Lauren Frost/KNOM
- Don adds the first layers of paint to the canvas. Photo: Lauren Frost/KNOM
- The beginnings of a mountain. Photo: Lauren Frost/KNOM
- Don says to make things look closer to the foreground in his landscapes, he uses darker colors. Photo: Lauren Frost/KNOM
- A tree starts with a single line. Photo: Lauren Frost/KNOM
- Don Henry holds up his finished painting. Photo: Lauren Frost/KNOM
- Don recreates the Donald Duck he used to draw as a child. Photo: Lauren Frost/KNOM
- Three of Don’s paintings on display in his home in Kotzebue. Photo: Lauren Frost/KNOM
- Vanessa Sweet at her home animation studio in Shishmaref. Photo: Lauren Frost/KNOM
- Vanessa works on an animated tiger that appears in her short film, “Wild Woman.” Photo: Lauren Frost/KNOM
- A still from Vanessa’s animation “Wild Woman.” Vanessa’s animations are all hand drawn. Photo courtesy of Vanessa Sweet.
- A still from “Wild Woman.” Photo courtesy of Vanessa Sweet.
- A still from “Wild Woman.” Photo courtesy of Vanessa Sweet.