Emily Mitchell, a local retired school librarian and graduate of the University of Alabama, has been painting steadily for 10 years. She enjoys painting pet portraits. As an animal lover, Mitchell decided to focus on the pet survivors of the April 27tornado.
Mitchell was first inspired when she read an article in the Tuscaloosa News by Robert DeWitt entitled “Through the Destruction Never Give Up Hope.” It was a story about a man named Melvin Vines who had lost his eight-pound cat, Lucky, and kept a vigil for a month to find her. Long story short, he found her.
Mitchell found out where Vines worked and gave him a call to ask if he would like a portrait done of Lucky. That is one of the artworks she created related to the tornado. [Pictured, “One Small Survivor”]
“I just wanted to do this painting so Mr. Vines would have a record of that happy ending,” Mitchell said.
Her artworks were displayed in Kentuck’s Turmoil and Transcendence show during the month of July.
“I wanted to include these for people that still needed that happy ending,” Mitchell said.
Another one of her artworks is her creation of the tornado with a collage of photos of pets that survived and are up for adoption. The work is a mixed media of nylon knit, oil and paper, and it was created for the Humane Society of West Alabama.
“You might still find animal tornado survivors among adoptables,” Mitchell said.
When asked about the positives that came from this disaster, Mitchell said she believes any individual can make a difference by continuing to help with the recovery.
“Everybody has something they can contribute,” Mitchell said. “Tuscaloosa has done well.”’
Mitchell will be exhibiting her other works at the Art Fair in the Kentuck courtyard on Nov. 19. During the month of December, her art will be displayed in Chloe’s Cup. All the money she receives from selling paintings at both venues will go to local animal adoption services.
For Mitchell and others, art is a way to face their fears.
Henry Busby, a senior majoring in telecommunications and film, said he became inspired to create artwork related to the tornado about three weeks after it hit, when everything was slowing down.
“It was the first time I really started to process what had happened,” Busby said. “I wanted to get it out in some way.”
His art is in mixed media form. He used cotton, wire, pieces of clay, a lamp, his hand and a camera on self-timer. He constructed the tornado with the cotton, wire and pieces of clay. He then used the lamp, rather than Photoshop, to add lighting to the piece.
Busby began to take art more seriously when he started college, and he picked up photography. Right after the tornado hit, he walked from Rosedale, a community along Tuscaloosa’s 10th Avenue to the Rec Center, taking pictures of the destruction along the way.
“I didn’t have my car with me, so I walked with my camera,” he said.
Busby was born and raised in Tuscaloosa. When asked what it felt like to see his hometown damaged by the tornado, he said he didn’t know what it was like not to be from Tuscaloosa, and it didn’t necessarily affect him more than others – it just affected everyone differently.
During the tornado, he was at his mom’s house, out of the tornado’s path. They were seeking shelter in the closet with the door cracked, watching the tornado from the TV. His mom’s home was untouched. Their neighbor’s home, which ended up being tornado victim Ashley Harrison’s, was completely gone.
“There will be little moments that make you think about it,” Busby said. “Tuscaloosa has done such a good job coming together and making things happen.”
