TRADING A TOWER FOR TURRETS Just when I think I’m headed for an extended sojourn living in Paris, I find myself happily ensconced in Carthage. As a friend observes, “You may not have the Eiffel Tower, but you do have The Courthouse with lots of turrets.” Ah, life’s detours and their rewards! When I arrive across from The Courthouse, for an early April morning Art Walk meeting at Mother Road Coffee, Jeanine Poe, chairwoman for Maple Leaf Festival, asks me, “When we adjourn, will you please stop by the Chamber of Commerce to have |
Now this is happy news, especially considering this art is created only because Wendi Douglas nudges me into an eleventh hour effort.
As many of you know, here at artCentral we’re dancing with a full agenda, which means my days spin from one deadline to the next—an undulating choreography. The moment I question my abilities to be timely with completing a commitment, I remember what Eric Haun, my Board of Directors President, tells me. “Oh, no problem. You can do and have everything you want.”
Adopting Eric’s philosophy, I frequently whisper to myself “You’re almost to a successful finish. Keep going.” I do, “keep going” and somehow everything that needs doing gets done, though often with a last minute wrap.
Given the brief time available, I keep my Maple Leaf design clean and crisp, using a limited, nuanced palette with only three graphic elements—our turreted Courthouse, maple leaves and the text: 49th Maple Leaf Festival, Memories in the Making, 2015.
In the deadline’s last hour, I hand deliver the finished art to our Chamber’s Mary Jo Little, then immediately focus toward the “next up” on my dance card without another thought for Maple Leaf art until Jeanine’s photo request.
While fully immersed in July’s two weeks of artCamp with 66 artCampers, I learn from Tonja Parrish of Embassy Embroidery in Webb City, that the Festival tee shirts will be pewter and my design, created for presentation on a white background, will need reworking ASAP to accommodate the dark tee shirt. Okay, “I can do everything!” Right?
After the artCampers Exhibition—a fine denouement for artCamp 2015—I’m head down into the Maple Leaf art redesign—a brand new rendering with The Courthouse done in simple, elegant lines and the maple leaves in brilliant, golden yellow.
Soon you’ll be able to purchase your 2015 Maple Leaf Festival tee shirt at Race Brothers. Who needs the Eiffel Tower on a tee shirt, when you can wear our turreted Courthouse enhanced with autumn’s beautiful maple leaves?