For a Good Cause
Artwork
donated to benefit
new Trimble Co. Public Library
Temple's
pen-and-ink drawings
among works to be bid on in October
By
Helen E. McKinney
Contributing Writer
BEDFORD, Ky. (October 2010) – At age 73, Betty
Johnson Temple enjoys her pen-and-ink drawings. She can envision on
paper what a lot of other people take for granted.
Temple specializes in historical drawings. As a versatile artist, she
also gets a lot of requests to paint in acrylics on crosscut saws.
In the late 1970s, Temple attended the Minneapolis School of Art. “I
excelled in pen-and-ink,” she said.
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Photo
provided Betty
Johnson Temple made her |
Temple has taken various classes with the Trimble County
Art Club, and with various local instructors. She was asked to join
the Trimble County Arts Association.
She will be among a group of artists who are donating their time and
talent to help fund a new Trimble County Public Library that is under
construction. In an effort to draw attention to the project, many artists
have donated works that will hang at the current library throughout
the month of October. Bids will be taken on the work and sold to the
highest bidder from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 21, during a reception
for the exhibited works.
A public reception is planned for 6 p.m. Oct. 21 at the library. A string
ensemble, Barefoot Best Friends, will perform. Refreshments will be
provided by the Trimble County Arts Council and the winning bids will
be announced.
“Local and area artists have donated artwork and, in turn, the
money will be donated to the construction of the Trimble County Public
Library,” said Vickie Eldridge, owner of Trimble County’s
Apple Tree Studio.
About 18 artists are participating and the variety of medium includes
paintings, wood turned bowls, woven pieces, pine-needle gourd baskets
and pottery. It was the idea of the Trimble County Arts Festival to
help in raising money for the new building.
Temple’s first attempt at pen-and-ink drawing came after the old
school house was torn down in Bedford. She had taken a picture previous
to the schools’ demolition and used it to construct a pen and ink
drawing.
“Not a lot of people do pen-and-ink drawings,” said Temple,
who was born in Sulphur, Ky. The one thing she wished she had done was
write down the stories people had told her about the buildings she drew.
Temple has many requests to draw churches that church members often
buy or give as gifts, she said. She creates pen-and-ink note cards from
the sketches she makes as well.
Recently, Temple has received several commissions from clients to draw
houses. She said of her drawings, “People seem to enjoy them.”
One of the most challenging drawings she ever made was of the Andrew
Furniture Store in Madison, Ind.
Temple’s donated piece is of the Equity Barn, which was torn down
to make room for the new library. At the suggestion of Eldridge, she
painted a scene on an actual piece of wood from the original barn.
Library Director Kathy McKown said the library has “benefited from
Trimble County area artists in many ways throughout the years. They
have generously given artwork to decorate the library. We have also
enjoyed a variety of amazing art pieces through the monthly art exhibits
on display in the library’s meeting room.” Once the library
is completed, the work of local artists will continue to be exhibited
each month.
The Kentucky State Fair got us going on this idea, said Eldridge. The
staff manning the fair booth asked for artwork, and then Eldridge suggested
hanging the artwork at the library to “use as a way to make the
public aware that we are selling artwork for the building of the new
library.”
The new library will contain 10,000 square feet and be built south of
Bedford on Hwy. 42. New spaces will include a teen area, study room,
reading room, children’s area, outdoor reading garden, fenced activity
area outside of the children’s room and a meeting room.
Ground was broken on Friday, Sept. 10, for the library and work began
the following Tuesday, Sept. 14, said McKown. “We would like to
see it built within a year.”
McKown said these “tremendously talented artists are generously
supporting the new library building project by donating their artwork
towards the building fund. We are all grateful for their assistance
in this exciting, yet challenging time.”
• For more information, contact the Trimble County Public Library at (502) 255-7362.