Recent visitors to Community Bank and the Col. Goodnight Chuckwagon Cookoff have gotten the first public views of an original painting of the Donley County Courthouse, which is being raffled off to support the restoration of the 1890 building.
The work, sponsored by the Community Bank and the Donley County Historical Commission, was painted with acrylics on canvas by local Methodist pastor James Ivey Edwards.
“We got such wonderful comments about the painting when we had it at the museum this past weekend,” said commission chairman Jean Stavenhagen. “Everyone loved it and commented on how talented James is.”
Edwards, who had been painting since 1966, said the project was challenging.
“I worked on the painting over 250 hours,” Edwards said. “It was hard to do because every cupola is different. It seemed like the builders were trying out different styles to see what they could do.”
The painting is set in 1911 and shows the Methodist Church in the background. Edwards looked at several black and white photographs as well as color postcards as guides for the piece. The church is historically correct in its location and appearance, but Edwards took artistic license with the placement of houses and a horse-drawn delivery wagon.
The courthouse is a departure from the artist’s usual subjects. Edwards’ paintings have usually been watercolor and acrylic of wildlife and landscapes taken from the Panhandle area. His pieces have hung everywhere from local homes to the home of former president Ronald Reagan.
While Edwards was doing graduate work at the University of Texas in Austin, he had a showing at a local gallery where his work caught the eye of a prominent member of the Republican Party. The party bought one of his paintings called “Hunter Home” and presented it to Ronald Reagan, who was then Governor of California.
That painting was of an Indian bringing home an antelope from Plum Flat in Palo Duro Canyon and was highly publicized, which gave Edwards a lot of recognition as a painter. Reagan’s love for Indian and Western Art and especially West Texas scenes brought about the sale of three more paintings to him in the years that followed.
In 1979, Edwards moved his family to Clarendon, where he took a job teaching art at Clarendon College. He held that position for more than 10 years before going into the ministry and hasn’t done much painting since then. But with the courthouse piece, his interest has been rekindled. He says he wants to paint another scene of the courthouse and then do religious paintings.
The courthouse painting will remain on display for two more weeks at Community Bank. It then will be displayed at Herring National Bank and later at the Donley County State Bank. Chances are being given for a $1 donation, which can be made at the bank or by calling any of the following historical commission members: Millie Dishong at 664-8832, Ruth Robinson at 874-2057, or Jack Moreman at 874-2071.
The painting will be given away at the re-dedication of the courthouse, which should be in December.
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