

Meet Henry Fernandes
Henry Fernandes grew up in Spanish Harlem in New York City and attended the School of Visual Arts, graduating in 1965. An accomplished animation designer and illustrator, he has worked in advertising and publishing as well as being co-owner of an animation company in New York City. For ten years he wrote, designed and produced animated spots for Sesame Street and The Electric Company. He won a Golden Lion award at the Cannes Film Festival and one of his animated film spots is part of the film library at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In recent years, working out of his studio on the shore of Buckhorn Lake, Henry has turned his talents towards painting.
He has done exhibitions at The Gladstone Hotel in 2017, at the Kent Farndale Gallery in Port Perry in 2015 and 2012, a show of his Mask Series at the Art Gallery of Peterborough (AGP), he's a regular at the Buckhorn Fine Art Festival in Buckhorn, Ontario, and has been a part of the AGP Kawartha Autumn Studio Tour for several years. He has also illustrated children’s books, including How Big is Big; Cold Night, Brittle Light; The Very Best Christmas Present; and in 1986 he co-wrote and illustrated Ordinary Amos and The Amazing Fish with his wife, Eugenie.
Speaking about the influences of his work, Henry said, “There were no flower gardens in Spanish Harlem where I grew up, but there was imagination. And learning to be acutely aware of my surroundings as a survival skill has become a useful part of my painting process. I am always looking very carefully at the world around me. Even though I now live beside a lake in southern Ontario, I still paint ‘inner landscapes.’”
![]() Henry showing his art at the Kent Farndale Gallery in Port Perry. | ![]() Henry in front of his painting "Flower Power." | ![]() Henry looking at his art. | ![]() Henry with his piece "Picnic." |
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![]() Henry in his studio. | ![]() Henry with his painting "Big Bug on a Leaf." |