Bud Hensgen was born in St. Louis, Missouri and, after some university work, he entered the Jesuit religious order.  After nine years he left the Jesuits and joined the U.S. diplomatic service where he served in London, Colombia, Panama and Germany.  He was later one of the founders of Old Dominion Brewing Company in Ashburn, Virginia and  the Executive Director of the Mid-Atlantic Association of Craft Brewers, a trade association that worked to change state laws in Maryland, Washington DC and Virginia to accommodate the growing craft brewing industry.During the 1990’s painting, which had always been a hobby, became an avocation, and he painted landscapes in oil and abstract works in acrylic.  His landscapes emphasize the dynamic forms and colors of the outdoors.  His abstract work uses multiple layers of transparent and opaque paints, which set up a tension between compelling forms of the surface against the multi-layered background.  The effect  creates ambiguity and depth.

Bud is a member of Studio Gallery in Washington, DC, the Art League in Alexandria, VA and the Arlington Artists Alliance in Arlington, VA.  He works in his studio in Convergence, located in Alexandria, VA.

His works are frequently exhibited in the Studio Gallery in Washington, DC, the Art League Gallery in the Torpedo Factory in Old Town Alexandria, and in the Arlington Art Gallery in Arlington, VA.

He has been the recipient of The Arlington County Cultural Affairs Award, and his paintings hang in many private collections in this country and around the world.  Several of his paintings have been selected by the Crystal City Business Improvement District Association as part of Crystal City’s  Art Walls Project.  The enlarged paintings are on display on the corner of 26th Street and Crystal Drive.

 

Artists Statement

My abstract work reflects the dynamism, complexity and frequently the ambiguity of life in our contemporary world.   I work by layering acrylics charcoals and oil pastels to create depth and build tension in color and form.

My style is uniquely my own. I recognize, however, many influences in my paintings.  Sculptor Henry Moore, artists Willem DeKooning, Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell and contemporary French artist Bernard Piga have all had an impact on my body of work.  Locally I have worked under artists Jane McElvany Coonce, Joyce McCarten, Lisa Semarad, Sara Poly, Rick Weaver, and Marsha Staiger, and I owe them a debt of gratitude.

People respond to colors and forms because these have the power to evoke feelings and experiences deep inside us, some of which we may have almost forgotten.  I hope my paintings may bring you a constant and refreshing renewal, an experience you may enjoy for years to come.