January 12, 2015 Meeting
We had several guests join us today. Shelly Lawler from Window Art Bill Balling came from the Buffalo Grove club. He’s also the City Manager of Prospect Heights. And we also welcomed Greg’s brother and sister-in-law John and Amber Guarrine. Creations is our speaker.
Shelly Lawler was a longtime photo hobbyist, taking pictures of her garden. In 2005, though, her husband, a photojournalist for the Chicago Tribune, gave her a ‘real’ camera and she began to sell her paintings to friends and at art fairs.
Her true inspiration, though, came when her husband was in St. Alexius Hospital. His room was overlooking the roof and its related vents and HVAC equipment – not very appealing or soothing. Shelly went home and came back the next day with decals of her photographs that were placed over her husband’s windows. Light still shone through, but now rather than looking at the harsh environment of the roof, he looked at beautiful portraits of flowers and wildlife.
The window coverings caused a sensation with staff and other patients stopping by to see. One of those visitors was St. Alexius’s president. He immediately saw the benefit of the coverings and commissioned Shelly to do more for the hospital’s pediatric and PICU wards. She has also done work for other hospitals and area churches. To date, Shelly has portraits covering 53 windows. This is a great new business that meets a critical need. We wish Shelly continued success!