Ray Hendershot feels blessed and honored to be an artist. For more than 50 years, he’s had the privilege of putting down on paper, his feelings and his thoughts about the world around him and those things that have touched his life. If, by doing so, he has also touched the lives of others, then he feels that his mission as an artist has been fulfilled. The Pennsylvania countryside provides him with the subject matter. He’s highly regarded for his antique still lifes and detailed rural landscapes. However, Hendershot explains that the real subject of his work is not the antiquated jugs and crocks, the rustic old mills or the aging farm buildings. Their surfaces are the real subject. Hendershot is intrigued by the fractured wood of an old wagon, the texture of a collapsing stone wall, or the way the light reflects off a piece of hand-turned stoneware, the signs of many years of hard use and wear. Over the years, he has developed a number of texturing methods that he feels adequately depict these signs of aging. He has even written a book about the subject, which was released in November of 1999 by Northlight Publishing. The book is titled “Texture Techniques for Winning Watercolors.” Hendershot has achieved several accomplishments with his posters, prints and art, including signature membership status in The Pennsylvania Watercolor Society, the American Watercolor Society, the National Acrylic Painters Association and the induction into the National Watercolor Society which happened recently. He was also selected to be in the top 100 artists of the “Arts for the Parks” competition by National Parks. Framed Ray Hendershot art can be seen in many galleries around the world.