Once upon a time...a bedtime story about an Ugly Duckling touched the empathetic heart of a child and she drew a realistic duck from the image in her mind.  A mother was amazed and a passion for art was born in a three-year-old child...

That was the beginning of my love of art, the common thread woven thru the canvas of my life...My name is Yvonne Herd Arrowood and I am an artist, constantly striving to be a better one. Many years have passed since my first pre-school drawings. Nevertheless, I am as excited to begin a new painting now as when it was my turn to use the easel, and the six big jars of paint in Mrs. Copeland's second grade class at Overbrook Elementary...

I love color and shapes, shadow and light, human faces and paintings that create an emotion or tell a story. I am primarily an oil painter, specializing in portraits and Old Master reproductions. My own personal renaissance began when I made a conscious decision to be taught rather than intimidated by the Masters. It continued as I began to copy old Masters to improve my craftsmanship…I did not realize that it would inspire creativity and originality as well.

My formal art education consisted of childhood lessons with Robert L. Bruns , a portrait painter and dedicated teacher…In my forth year as his student,  Mr. Bruns gave me two weekly classes with the adults in exchange for cleaning his studio. As a “shop-girl/apprentice”, I learned much from Mr. Bruns as he patiently answered my many questions. I remember that one of my questions inspired a lengthy discussion one afternoon about  painting in layers (glazes) and how Leonardo’s apprentice might have prepared his Master’s Palette. It was many years before I fully appreciated and understood the depth of Mr. Bruns' teaching and generosity... As an adult, I attended Covino's Old Master workshops. The discipline and structure of the classical academic method presented at the workshops complemented the excellent foundation that I received as a young teenager from Robert Bruns.

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                                                   Bio Notes:

Growing up in Greenville, South Carolina, Yvonne attended Wade Hampton High School. She entered Central Wesleyan College (now Southern Wesleyan University) in 1965 and began a major in Biology and Chemistry. In 1968, she transferred to USC, graduating with honor from the College of Pharmacy in 1971.

After graduation, a pharmacy career and rearing three sons left little time for any art other than that which was conceived and executed in the mind. When the time came that she could return to “artistic pursuits”, her own personal “renaissance” began as she directed her study toward the concept of being taught, rather than intimidated, by the “Old Masters”.

Included in Yvonne’s portfolio are original portraits and reproductions of works from Botticelli to Bouguereau. Portraits include those of University of South Carolina professors Joseph LeConte, Dr. Robert Beamer, Dean Julian Fincher, and Dean Farid Sadik.

Yvonne has been the solo artist in many Carolina shows and her work has been featured in Cape Fear Arts Alive, The Greenville Journal, the Catholic Miscellany, the Palmetto Pharmacist, Southern Wesleyan University’s Focus Magazine, The Spalding Farm News Letter, Greenville News’ City People and WYFF TV.

 In October 2004, Yvonne expanded her horizons by becoming a Louvre copyist. Continuing to study the masters, she painted on site in September 2005 at the Accademia Carrara in a Sister Cities International exchange between Greenville and Bergamo, Italy.

 In October 2005, Yvonne again had the opportunity to paint at the Louvre, while her copy of Vouet’s Allegory of Wealth was on exhibit at the 2nd  Salon des Copistes du Louvre. Her copy of Vien’s “Sleeping Hermit” was included in the 3rd Salon in March 2008.

 Yvonne’s version of Raphael’s Madonna Della Sedia was displayed at the BJU Museum and Gallery in an exhibit with her favorite childhood painting, Ribera’s Ecce Homo. The exhibit, Artspeak Demystified remained on display from March 2007 thru July 2008. During the final months of the exhibit, Yvonne was privileged to finish her own copy of Ribera at the museum, while her Madonna della Sedia hung on a wall a few feet away. .

In 2008, Yvonne combined business with pleasure as she painted on site at the BJU Museum and Gallery, copying portions of Boeckhorst’ Adoration of the Magi for an educational exhibit at the Museum and Gallery at Heritage Green. Her painting of Rembrandt’s Artist in His Studio was also exhibited concurrently at the same museum from April 2008 thru July 2009.