BIOGRAPHICAL ARTIST INFORMATION

Betty Verna Kern or Verna, the artist, (signed signature on art products) is an American art painter, clay potter, wood sculptor, image illustrator, and a designer of abstraction, figurative or representational art.   Also, she is an ethnographer, a historian, and a curator who specializes in all thing and stuff Haitian. Verna creates in various themed series her paintings as noted: (1) the American series comes out of her life's experiences while   journeying through modern time (2) Fresh cut flowers: abstract and realistic series (more than 50 flowers have been drawn and painted) (3) Highlighted details of Haitian history that are interesting to know information wise, 

 for educational and learning purposes.  Last but not the least (4) the artist's interpretation of a dozen or so named loas (spirits) known in the Vodou religion.   i e. Dambala, Ezili, Lasiren and the likes.   Betty states:  "for your information, I am a Christian whose maternal side taught me about the Roman Catholic faith, and I was educated in high school among American missionaries in Haiti who made an influence on me.   I felt compel to understand about my Haitianess and learn mostly in books about the vodou religion, beside what I have seen and heard from local informants." 

Sociologically speaking, Verna has researched study Haiti's culture and heritage, custom and tradition: song, music, religion, dance, cuisine, language and art. Verna is gifted and talented in crochet, sewing, quilting, embroidery, cooking, and baking altogether.

Marie Betty de Coeur Sacre de Jesus Verna (anglicized to Betty Marie Verna) was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in the early 1950's. At the age of 9 she emigrated to New York City with her older sister, joining their mother and step-father, originally from Ecuador. She has spent most of her life in the United States. Verna became an American citizen through the United States' Child Citizenship Act.  She attended primary and middle school in the Bronx, New York City.   Living in New York City in the 1960's was quite an amazing, fantastic time to assimilate in the American way of life.  As well, it's the period of time when she learned how to speak English.  Then, when Betty was about 13 1/2, her mother, step-mother and father agreed to return her to Port-au-Prince, Haiti to study in English at Union School for high school where she graduated.  It is during her formative years while in the care of her step-mother who had sent her on a trip by herself with her father to the city - it is during that week's stay in N.Y.C., at St. James hotel by Times Square, Manhattan, N.Y.C. she was sexually assaulted.  Her biological father - a vodouist and a Tonton Macoute, one of the highest officials in the Duvalier dictatorship regime (the 1st lady of Haiti, Simone Ovide Duvalier was a cousin of her step-mother's, Nicole Lavlanette) incestuously raped the teenager.   It left a deep wound and scar when, after 6 (six) months of this incident, her step-mother died, and soon after that, her half-sister, Yanick Letendre kicked her out of their father's house. (She realized it was a set -up for financial gain favors).  The impact of her darker experiences in her life is huge, causing her lifetime pain and suffering.  Nothing was done about it by those adults who suspected this unfortunate happening.   Subsequently, bringing on depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms.  Psychological counseling therapy are on and off and continues to help her understand what happened to her in her childhood.  While thinking and reminiscing about her life for her memoir's manuscript, she realized she was kept similarly like a sex slave for about 3 (three) years of her schooling years.  That she endured this ordeal just to attend private school as her assailant provided food, shelter, clothing to her. Betty's courage and resilience motivated her toward art.   She turned the situation she faced into good energy becoming a professional artist.  

 At a young age, Betty Verna Kern was exposed to art.  She saw paintings street vendors displayed along the streets' sidewalks.  There was also observation Verna made of her cousin oil painting at her aunt's and uncle's house.  Then, at 15 enrolled at a nun's art school (across the street from Issa El Saieh's studio gallery), with a friend, Verna was enrolled in an oil painting course.  That's where these 2 girls met iconic primitive painters:  Gourge, Normil, Blanchard paint in their studio spaces at Issah's.  During her first semester enrolled at Hunter College, she took a drawing course.  Her first art show was an exhibit in 1991 at Long Branch Public Library published in the Asbury Park Press newspaper.   

Verna continues to create paintings in her art studio. She has exhibited in many library galleries, the likes of: the Monmouth Art Alliance, Brookdale Center for the Visual Arts, Belmar Art Alliance, Freehold Art Society, Newark School of the Arts, Montclair Library, New Brunswick Library and at the Essex County College gallery.