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| Serving Callaway County communities since 1875. | www.fultonsun.com | Saturday, July 04, 2009 |
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Hatton resident's home serves as artistic showcase By KATHERINE CUMMINS,The Fulton Sun
With paintings on the walls and the lamps on the tables, the plates, figurines and vases lining the shelves, quilts stacked in cupboards, the studio in the basement filled with china, canvases and jewelry, even the bathroom - in which everything is painted with flowers from the sink and the lights to the cabinet handles and the toilet paper holder - Shryock's entire house is a showcase for her talent. “I like to create things and it helps me to pass the time - I've been alone a lot,” she said. “When I don't have anything to do, I can pick up my brush and paint and feel like I've accomplished something.” Currently, her favorite piece is a historical quilt she finished in January. “I cut out blocks of white material and sent them to people who had inspired me in my lifetime - doctors, politicians, actors - just people who had an impact on my life,” said Shryock, who embroidered over the signatures on the returned blocks. “One of my most cherished ones is from Shirley Temple.” Shryock said the best part of that particular project was the daily trips to the mailbox - which eventually included 24 responses from people like Martha Stewart, Billy Graham, Charlie James, James Dobson, Gary Pinkel, Norm Stewart, Carl Edwards, Andy Williams, Mel Tillis, Shoji Tabuchi and Bill Cosby. “It was interesting to see - some of them would write a letter back,” she said. “I said I didn't know very much, but they said at least that was more than them,” Shryock continued. “I worked harder than they did trying to stay ahead of them. “It's a very difficult art, but a very rewarding art, and now it's kind of lost its awe because young people don't appreciate Victorian-type art ... but it'll come back someday.” Shryock sold her painted china, quilts and paintings at a store she co-owned in Fulton - The Classic Touch - for 11 years before retiring in 1997. Now she works and sells out of her basement studio - identified by a small sign as Verna's Art Gallery - picking and choosing which projects she wants to do during the two to three hours each day that she spends working. “I'm doing a couple commissions and I do other things I see that I want to paint,” Shryock said. “Right now I've been enjoying the jewelry because it's new and different. “It just depends on what's in at the time. I just charge around, and when something new comes along, I try it.” She also sells prints, cards and ornaments at local events such as the annual Hatton Craft Fair - itself the subject of one of her most famous paintings. Shryock's favorite subjects are flowers and well-known scenes from around Callaway County - including a popular portrayal of the Churchill Memorial covered in snow. Some of her inspiration also comes from the extensive car trips she used to take with friends. “I love seeing what the rest of the country's like,” she said. “Niagra Falls was awesome and the Grand Canyon was probably the most spectacular of all.” Shryock, who is 87, said that she no longer does anything unless it pleases her. “I'm getting awfully old and I just do what I feel like doing,” she said, noting her daily routine consists mainly of sitting on her back porch. “I don't worry about what I'm going to do until something comes along - I just enjoy what I can do, and am thankful I can do it.” |
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