Andrews – Colorful murals can be found throughout the landmarks of the town, bringing brightness and light to the buildings and scenery.
The murals were created by local artists over the years with some of the most recent murals created by local native Shirley Rackley. Rackley has painted murals at the former Andrews Garden Club, Andrews Post Office and the Andrews Public Library over the last five years.
Rackley said she grew up in Andrews, leaving the small town for a little while before coming back. While she didn’t graduate high school, she went back to class later in life, receiving a G.E.D. and attending community college for commercial art.
“Going back to college when in your 40s takes a lot of nerve,” she said with a chuckle. “I was out of school for so long, but I made the dean’s list. I did pretty well, but when you’re young your mind is sharper.”
Rackley has always had an imagination, which would transport her to magical worlds that she would draw and show to others around her. When she was a small girl, she learned quickly that she had a talent and a love for art.
Rackley’s love for whimsical art began when she was a young girl, drawing in the dirt with a stick. She realized that not only was she talented, but she loved it, and art became her passion.
“I thought, ‘I can do something good’,” Rackley said. “When I was 15, I wanted to paint because I liked bright colors and drew all the time as a kid, But then I discovered paint and took a few painting classes.”
Rackley said she took classes a few times per week and quickly learned how to mix colors. She has kept up her passion for years, painting to bring ideas to life.
“When I paint landscapes, I like to put people and animals in because it tells a story,” she said. “I love life, and I like to show some part of human life in my work.”
Her first mural was the bright red poppies on the fence beside the former Andrews Garden Club building. Rackley said the idea to paint the flowers with outdoor acrylic came from another mural she made on a friend’s barn of a lifelike horse peaking through a stall window.
She completed the mural of fairies, dragons and elves behind the Andrews Public Library in August 2018.
“I would draw sketches at home,” Rackley said. “I started showing the library staff some small examples of my ideas and then I would paint them. “I wanted the mural to be bright.”
Rackley said a friend spray-painted the background, and then “I started painting the fairies,” she said. “It took the entire summer to finish.”
She said fantasy scenes, especially the fairy mural, makes her happy because of all the positive feedback she received while working on the project.
“When I was painting, people would come by and talk to me about it,” Rackley said. “I like to spread sunshine.”
Another artistic outlet for Rackley is through poetry. She often writes about the things she sees and experiences in art museums.
“I’m not a movie person,” Rackley said. “I get my ideas from going to art museums because it inspires me to paint and when you are feeling blocked, it will get those creative juices flowing in you. I also like to write poetry; you can get one idea and go so many ways with it.”
Rackley has written several pieces of poetry and also a children’s book which she illustrated. While she does not have plans to work on another big project, when the mood strikes she will be at it again.
“When it’s time, something is building inside me and wants to come out, then I’ll need to get it out of me,” she said about her imaginative art. “I have quite a few left in me, I just never know when I am going to paint. I may get some inspiration out of nowhere.”