Varnette Patricia Honeywood (December 27, 1950 – September 12, 2010) was an American painter, writer, and businesswoman whose paintings and collages depicting African-American life hung on walls in interior settings for ''

The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom created by (along with Ed. Weinberger and Michael J. Leeson) and starring Bill Cosby that originally aired on NBC from September 20, 1984, to April 30, 1992, with a total of 201 half-hour e ...

'' after Camille and

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American retired comedian, actor, and media personality. Often cited as a trailblazer for African Americans in the entertainment industry, Cosby was a film, television, and stand-up comedy ...

had seen her art and started collecting some of her works. Her paintings also appeared on television on the ''Cosby Show'' spin-off ''

A Different World ''A Different World'' is an American sitcom television series and a spin-off of '' The Cosby Show''. It aired for six seasons on NBC from September 24, 1987, to July 9, 1993. The series originally centered on Denise Huxtable ( Lisa Bonet) an ...

'', as well as on the TV series ''

Amen Amen (, ; , ; , ; , ) is an Abrahamic declaration of affirmation which is first found in the Hebrew Bible, and subsequently found in the New Testament. It is used in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic practices as a concluding word, or as a respons ...

'' and ''

227 Year 227 (Roman numerals, CCXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Senecio and Fulvius (or, less frequently, year 980 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...

''.

Early years

Honeywood was born on December 27, 1950, in Los Angeles. Her parents, Stepney and Lovie Honeywood, were elementary school teachers who had come to California from Louisiana and Mississippi.Nelson, Valerie J
"Varnette P. Honeywood dies at 59; artist whose work was featured on 'The Cosby Show'": Honeywood, who lived in South Los Angeles, was an African American painter who gained fame when her exuberant and positive images of black culture appeared on TV."
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', September 16, 2010. Accessed September 16, 2010. Honeywood earned her undergraduate degree in art in 1972 from

Spelman College Spelman College is a Private college, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, the first historically black female school of higher education in the United States. (She would exhibit there in 1987.) She earned her master's degree from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

in 1974, where she majored in education.

Career beginnings

As part of a community outreach program conducted by USC, Honeywood used her educational training to teach multicultural arts and crafts programs to minority children in the public schools. The time she spent visiting relatives in the South during her childhood, her college experience at Spelman and a 1977 trip to

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

all provided themes for her paintings. In the 1970s, her and her sister Stephanie established the greeting-card company Black Lifestyles.https://www.spelman.edu/docs/spelman-messenger/spelman-messenger-spring2011.pdf?sfvrsn=59bdb1b2_6 They produced prints, and stationery items featuring images of Varnette's work, making it the first such company specializing in Black themes. The Honeywood sisters hoped to make Varnette's work more accessible through their company.

Artistic style and themes

Honeywood is well known for her vibrant figurative works depicting African American life. Her figures, composed of flat simplified shapes are influenced by William H. Johnson.Jacqueline Trescott Washington Post, Staff Writer. "Cos and Affection for A Black Artist: Honeywood's Loving Look At Life Draws a Following." ''The Washington Post (1974–)'', Nov 30, 1997, pp. 2''.'' She often showed her figures in profile and exaggerated their features.Bontemps, Alex; Fonvielle-Bontemps, Jacqueline; Driskell, David C. ''Forever Free : Art by African-American Women 1862–1980''. Alexandria Virginia: Stephenson Incorporated, 1980. Honeywood worked with acrylic paint and in collage, her collage works are reminiscent of

Romare Bearden Romare Bearden (, ) (September 2, 1911 – March 12, 1988) was an American artist, author, and songwriter. He worked with many types of media including cartoons, oils, and collages. Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, Bearden grew up in New York C ...

. She drew inspiration from her own community to create images of everyday African American life, with subjects ranging from family and social gatherings to church settings. Honeywood used bright colors to reflect the vibrancy and colorfulness found in African American communities.

Hollywood art work

Camille Cosby discovered Honeywood's work on note cards and she and her husband

started collecting her works. This led to the inclusion of Honeywood's artwork, including her 1974 painting "Birthday", on the walls of the Huxtable living room on the set of ''The Cosby Show''. She had been asked to create a painting to be included for the show's pilot and different examples of her paintings were cycled through during the show's run. She later created a mural as a backdrop for Cosby's television series ''

Kids Say the Darndest Things ''Kids Say the Darndest Things'' is an American comedy series that was based on a feature segment of the same name on Art Linkletter's radio and television program, '' House Party''.Dunning, John. ''On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Rad ...

'', and her art appeared in the television series ''My Wife and Kids'', ''Smart Guy'', ''The Steve Harvey Show'', ''Gullah Gullah Island'', '';Golden Girls'', ''Melrose Place'', ''Amen'', ''227'' and ''A Different World''. She worked together with Bill Cosby to create the characters and illustrations in the book series ''

Little Bill ''Little Bill'' is an American animated educational children's television series created by Bill Cosby. It is based on the ''Little Bill'' book series, written by Cosby with illustrations by Varnette P. Honeywood. Cosby also composed some of th ...

'', which became the basis for the TV series of the same name. Cosby credited Honeywood with the positive depictions of African-American life in which "you can see teenagers doing homework, a family cooking a meal, girls doing their hair", rather than showing "segregation, starving and homelessness". She was featured in the film ''Varnette Honeywood : a study of a young artist'', in the book ''Contemporary Black biography. : Volume 54'' (2006).

Later life and legacy

Honeywood died at age 59 on September 12, 2010, in Los Angeles after fighting cancer for two years. Her family, Tiffany Allen (executive director of Cancer Research), Joyce Allen (Executive Director/President), Jennell (Vice President), and Carolyn Allen (Secretary) along with Edward Hamilton Jr and Sherice Roper started the Varnette P. Honeywood Foundation to support those who suffer from and are prone to having reproductive cancers. Varnette P. Honeywood Foundation is inspired by the principals of fostering a sense of common ground among all people, improving the quality of life for every member of the human family, and cultivating a widespread shared commitment to creating a more enlightened society for the benefit of future generations. The Varnette P. Honeywood Foundation is focused on the following priorities: Scholarship programs for talented and promising art students and artists in all genres whose work makes a positive contribution to society. Honeywood's artwork can still be seen on numerous show such as Amen, The Steve Harvey Show, My Wife and Kids, Smart Guy, Melrose Place, Golden Girls and various other television shows, movies and book covers. She is recognized by contemporary artists today for her significant contribution, helping to envision and shape Black visual culture.

Publications

As most of Honeywood's published work was for the ''Little Bill'' book series, those with asterisks (*) designate publications not from the series. * ''Shake it to the one that you love the best : play songs and lullabies from Black musical traditions'', 1989* * ''Let's get the rhythm of the band : a child's introduction to music from African-American culture with history and song'', 1993* * ''The best way to play'', 1997 * ''The meanest thing to say'', 1997 * ''The treasure hunt'', 1997 * ''Money troubles'', 1998 * ''Super-fine Valentine'', 1998 * ''Shipwreck Saturday'', 1998 * ''My big lie'', 1999 * ''The worst day of my life'', 1999 * ''Hooray for the Dandelion Warriors!'', 1999 * ''The meanest thing to say'', 1999 * ''One dark and scary night'', 1999 * ''The day I was rich'', 1999 * ''The day I saw my father cry'', 2000 * ''"I'm late" : the story of LaNeese and Moonlight and Alisha who didn't have anyone of her own'', 2006*

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Honeywood, Varnette 1950 births 2010 deaths Painters from California Deaths from cancer in California Spelman College alumni USC Rossier School of Education alumni Artists from Los Angeles American women painters Delta Sigma Theta members African-American women artists 20th-century African-American painters 20th-century American painters 21st-century African-American painters 21st-century American painters