Month: October 2026

Does a Haberdashery Need a Hat-Check Girl?

Black-and-white abstract drawing with an ornate rectangular border surrounding interlocking mechanical and organic shapes, loops, and curved lines.

Haberdashery, 2026. Graphite and ink on paper,
approximately 6½ × 5 inches. Bill Hendricks.

I am going to BE A HAT CHECK GIRL!

Me too! I’m gonna go right to the top
I’m gonna be a hat check girl
At one of those East Side, high-class restaurants
Take your hat, sir! Take your coat, sir!
Take your vest, sir! Take your pants!
Take your socks, sir! Take your shoes, sir!
I can hold them while you dance
Take your eyes, sir! Take your ears, sir!
Check and see if you are free
How about it after hours, I’ll take you and you’ll take me!

From “There’s Gotta Be Something Better Than This”
Sweet Charity (1966)
Lyrics by Dorothy Fields
Music by Cy Coleman

Love the song. Love the musical.
A haberdashery needs a hat-check girl, no?

My drawing Haberdashery somehow brought out
the hat-check girl from Sweet Charity.
And come to think of it, my friends Eugene and Silvano
met at a coat check in New York.
Funny how these things connect.

It Wasn’t Always “Glory Days”

Abstract pen-and-ink drawing by Bill Hendricks featuring intricate blue and black geometric patterns, flowing organic shapes, circles, and decorative borders.
Intricate Blue and Black-10092026 Hendricks©2026

I was walking today, thinking about how things have happened in my life. So much wasn’t planned. Things came along, I stepped into them, and before I knew it, I was doing it for better or worse.

Looking back, I’m amazed at how things worked out. But they weren’t always glory days. I didn’t always know where I was going or whether things would work out.

I kept doing it while making course corrections along the way. Now I’m spending more time thinking about what comes next, but I’m already doing what I want to do.

I’ve been noticing something similar in my drawings. Working with pen and ink makes me slow down. Every line matters. I have to look at what’s happening, think about what I’m doing, and decide where the next line goes.

It challenges me.

Maybe that’s why being present came to mind today. Whether I’m drawing or walking, there’s something about paying attention to what’s happening around me. I guess that is called presence.

Bill Hendricks

Confidence and Trust

I have confidence in sunshine,
I have confidence in rain.
I have confidence that spring will come again!
Besides which, you see, I have confidence in me!

— “I Have Confidence,” The Sound of Music
Rodgers & Hammerstein

When I was teaching, my students used to get a kick out of the fact that every once in a while I would break into song.

One of my favorites was I Have Confidence from The Sound of Music.

I’ve been thinking about that song lately. I’ve also been thinking about confidence, trust, and résumés.

A résumé can list what I’ve done. It can remind me of exhibitions, teaching, projects, and accomplishments. But confidence doesn’t come from a list of what I’ve already done.

It comes from trusting what I can do next.

I’ve been working on a new series of small drawings and paintings, and I’m pleased to say that some of them will be going to New York in December for Collective Z’s Small Works show.

I’m excited to be showing with Collective Z again. It’s a wonderful small gallery, and I’ve really enjoyed working with Alex Z. Wang.

Will every piece I make be the best piece I’ve ever made? Probably not.

That’s not really the point.

Whatever comes out of that process, it will be the best of me.

Bill Hendricks

 

Three small abstract pen-and-ink drawings with geometric lines, symbols, and machine-like forms arranged on an artist’s worktable.
Three works in progress from the Small Works series, 2026. Pen and ink on paper.

Collective Z is a contemporary gallery and project space on Broome Street in New York, dedicated to artists working in states of transition, tension, and becoming.

— Collective Z