Festival of the Bells artwork features former bank building
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By
Brandy Chandler-brandychandler@gmail.com
An original oil painting of the former Fifth Third Bank building by Hillsboro artist Stacia Burke will be auctioned off July 2 during the annual Festival of the Bells.
The building is featured on the 2011 commemorative bell, which was also drawn by Burke.
An art teacher at Hillsboro Elementary School, Burke said this is the second year she has created the artwork featured on the bells.
The previous bells had been designed by artist Mike Bick, who retired from the festival designs last year.
“The original art for the bells gets sent off and scanned to be used for the laser etching in the bell, so it doesn’t come back,” Burke said. “I created the painting, which is oil on canvas, to be auctioned off along with the first five bells in the series.”
Burke studied art and education at Shawnee State University, and has been at Hillsboro Elementary for five years. She said that working with the festival gives her an opportunity to do something for the community, while having an opportunity to create the art that she loves.
“With teaching, it’s hard to fit my creative work in, but I try to do creative things as much as I can,” Burke said. “I scrapbook, and I help my mom do stained glass. The kids at school always say things like, ‘Mrs. Burke, are you a real artist?’ I love teaching, but art is what got me teaching.”
The Festival of the Bells Committee, Burke said, wanted a representation of the building that was more historical in nature. Because its appearance has changed over the years, she did research with the Highland County Historical Society.
“They wanted the painting to be an older version,” Burke said. “I was really grateful for Bob Lambert and the Highland County Historical Society and museum. He let me come up one day and he pulled out all the old photos they had on file. I needed photo references because it wasn’t something I could just pull from my memory, and that was the real challenge of the whole project. Forever in my mind it will always be the old Fifth Third Bank building.”
Painting the top section of the building with the details in the roof took eight hours, and the entire painting took 20-24 hours to create, Burke said.[[In-content Ad]]
The building is featured on the 2011 commemorative bell, which was also drawn by Burke.
An art teacher at Hillsboro Elementary School, Burke said this is the second year she has created the artwork featured on the bells.
The previous bells had been designed by artist Mike Bick, who retired from the festival designs last year.
“The original art for the bells gets sent off and scanned to be used for the laser etching in the bell, so it doesn’t come back,” Burke said. “I created the painting, which is oil on canvas, to be auctioned off along with the first five bells in the series.”
Burke studied art and education at Shawnee State University, and has been at Hillsboro Elementary for five years. She said that working with the festival gives her an opportunity to do something for the community, while having an opportunity to create the art that she loves.
“With teaching, it’s hard to fit my creative work in, but I try to do creative things as much as I can,” Burke said. “I scrapbook, and I help my mom do stained glass. The kids at school always say things like, ‘Mrs. Burke, are you a real artist?’ I love teaching, but art is what got me teaching.”
The Festival of the Bells Committee, Burke said, wanted a representation of the building that was more historical in nature. Because its appearance has changed over the years, she did research with the Highland County Historical Society.
“They wanted the painting to be an older version,” Burke said. “I was really grateful for Bob Lambert and the Highland County Historical Society and museum. He let me come up one day and he pulled out all the old photos they had on file. I needed photo references because it wasn’t something I could just pull from my memory, and that was the real challenge of the whole project. Forever in my mind it will always be the old Fifth Third Bank building.”
Painting the top section of the building with the details in the roof took eight hours, and the entire painting took 20-24 hours to create, Burke said.[[In-content Ad]]