When Iron Spring’s Liana Vander Linden decided to lend her artistic talents to the creation of a bench fair booklet cover she had no idea her efforts would gain provincial acclaim.
Vander Linden said when she noticed the Picture Butte and District Agricultural Society, which hosts the bench fair each year during Jamboree Days, was using photocopied elements for their cover she offered to create an original cover.
Last year her cover helped the society win third in a marketing competition sponsored by the Alberta Association of Agricultural Societies.
Vander Linden’s creative efforts have now graced the covers of the bench fair booklet for seven of the last eight years.
Her daughter Lyndsi has also been recruited the last couple of years to create original drawings for the colouring page which is included each year in the booklet for young artists to colour and submit for judging at the bench fair.
Vander Linden said previously she also created the colouring page and still draws up designs for the divider pages in the booklet each year, in addition to the cover.
She said her daughter didn’t know she could draw until her mother encouraged her to give it a try and now, Lyndsi admits she has the bug too.
Vander Linden said now that she has won an award she feels even more driven to improve on the winning design.
“I want to out do last year’s with this year. The pressure is on.”
Her interest in art goes back to her childhood.
“I’ve always been artistic.”
While her children were students at Huntsville School in Iron Springs she put together the school’s anthology each year complete with original artwork.
“It’s kind of my hobby.”
She has even painted a mural in her home and also did one for the school. She said over the years anything her kids were involved with she was usually asked to do something involving her artistic talents.
She said at one time she did display some of her art work but health problems have slowed down some of her artistic endeavours.
It took about a decade before she was finally diagnosed with MS and during that time it took her away from her art.
Each year the Ag Society meets to determine a theme for Jamboree Days and she is often asked for her opinion which generally leads to a design for the booklet cover. She even hand letters the covers to tie them into the artwork.
“I liked to draw anything.”
For the booklet covers she works in pencil but for some of her other creations she has worked in both charcoal and acrylics.
“I stay away from oils, I’m a messy painter.”
Vander Linden said she is proud of the provincial recognition her cover drew but admits the award came as a complete surprise. She had no idea it was even being judged.
For this year’s cover she has incorporate landmarks in Picture Butte including the sugar silos, which she had to sketch sitting in the dark one night.
She wanted to capture the look of the silos and it was too dark out to take a picture so she sat sketching in her vehicle hoping no one reported her to the police as a suspicious person.
The cover also features an engine on the rail line that used to run through town and an old grain elevator now privately owned in Picture Butte.