Town Hall Painting Nears Completion

WAITSBURG - As is often the case, what began as a relatively simple restora­tion project has grown into a much larger undertaking. When Commercial Club members discovered that the large painting - approximate­ly 7 feet by 5 feet - that had hung above the window to the kitchen in Town Hall was water damaged, Karl Newell and Doris Huffman decided to do what they could to re­store it.

Newell tackled the job of sanding and repainting the wooden frame, but Huffman soon learned she was not go­ing to restore the painting as she had hoped. "I thought it was just going to be a matter of dabbing on some trees to cover the damage," she said.

The original landscape was painted by former Waitsburg resident Sirrka Witt, whose work has been displayed throughout Waits­burg. Witt painted the jockey on the Don Thomas building and a large United States flag (which was later painted over), on the former Legion Club. When Huffman went to restore the landscape, she discovered it had not been painted on canvas as she had assumed, but on paper, which was torn and moldy. She would need to start from scratch.

Huffman began draw­ing in the fourth grade and never lost her love of art. She taught second grade in Waitsburg for 23 years, always making sure art was a part of the curriculum. "I loved showing kids how a simple little line could turn into an entire drawing. It was neat to watch them realize that they could be successful at it," she said.

Over the years, Huffman studied art and history at Eastern Washington Uni­versity, Walla Walla Col­lege and Whitman College. She enjoys making "pretty things," whether painting butterflies and flowers on rocks or creating elaborate Victorian lampshades.

Tackling such a huge painting posed quite a chal­lenge. "I started out painting the view as you come in to Waitsburg from Middle Waitsburg Road," she said. "Even though it's pretty in real life, it didn't translate well. It was just a bunch of trees and hills."

Huffman painted over her first attempt and began again, this time splitting the painting between a view of Izzy the Camel and the red barn as you enter Waitsburg from the south on Highway 12 and Waitsburg's Main Street. "I had to squish a few of the buildings together, but I think it works," she said.

Huffman painted with acrylics on a piece of ply­wood. The newly finished replacement will soon hang in its rightful spot in Town Hall.