KIERAN'S CHRISTMAS CARD IMAGE ILLUMINATES HIS UNDOUBTED TALENT
Kieran's Christmas card image illuminations his undoubted talent.
BY: ADRIAN MULLAN
KIERAN McElhill, a pupil from Heather-bank School, .has been chosen as the winner of a special competition to design a Christmas card for the locally based Western Education and Library Board.
Kieran created a stunningly beautiful image of the Omagh churches, as viewed from the Kevlin Road.
The powerful and evocative image he created adorns over one thousand Christmas cards dispatched from the Western Education and Library Board in Omagh. Already a card has been sent to every school and every member of the Board, as well as the many bodies with whom the WELB is in contact throughout the year.
The image he created of the three church spires as candles, lighting the Omagh night, so impressed the panel of judges that they are considering the possibility of having it recreated in the form of a print in the New Year, and copies may be sold to aid the Omagh Fund.
On the theme of 'light shines out of the darkness', Kieran may well have created a design which, more than any other, conveys the feeling of hope amid the suffering of Omagh. Indeed, the melting wax on the candles could symbolise so many tears being shed for the town.
Drawn on a A4 file page, Winnie Winters, the teacher who had entered Kieran, and fellow pupils, in the competition, had decided that it should not be redrawn on unlined paper as it may have lost some of its character.
Heatherbank Principal, Hugh McAteer, said staff were bowled-over when they first saw the picture. The idea is original and Mr McAteer was delighted that the card had been successful in a competition against all-comers, including A-level art students.
At sixteen years of age, Kieran, from O'Kane Park, has shown himself to be an artist of considerable aptitude, indeed, art is his one abiding passion and rarely is Kieran without his sketch pad and pencil.
Mr. McAteer hopes that, in due course, Kieran enters a career that will provide a forum for what he described as his 'undoubted talent.'
Because of the overall high standard in this year's competition, which is run by the WELB, the team of judges decided to chose a further six cards which could be printed and made available to Omagh Schools, to be sold in packs of six with profits going to the Omagh Fund.
The following pupils' cards were selected for the pack of six; Alan Heany, (Gibson P.S.), Emma Pinkerton (Dunmullan P.S.),
Stephanie McDermott (St. Mary's P.S. Killyclogher), Thomas Brown, (Heatherbank School), Emma Kelly, (Loreto Convent Grammar), and Rachel Rennie, Omagh Academy.
All of the cards entered were exhibited in the WELB boardroom at last week's Education Committee meeting, and members were extremely complimentary about the quality and creativity of the pupils' work.
The Chief Executive, Joe Martin and the Senior Education Officer, Sheila McCaul, congratulated everyone involved with the competition and paid tribute to, and extended thanks to all of the teachers and pupils who supported the initiative.
Copies of the overall winning card can be obtained from Heatherbank School, priced 60 pence each.
BY: ADRIAN MULLAN
KIERAN McElhill, a pupil from Heather-bank School, .has been chosen as the winner of a special competition to design a Christmas card for the locally based Western Education and Library Board.
Kieran created a stunningly beautiful image of the Omagh churches, as viewed from the Kevlin Road.
The powerful and evocative image he created adorns over one thousand Christmas cards dispatched from the Western Education and Library Board in Omagh. Already a card has been sent to every school and every member of the Board, as well as the many bodies with whom the WELB is in contact throughout the year.
The image he created of the three church spires as candles, lighting the Omagh night, so impressed the panel of judges that they are considering the possibility of having it recreated in the form of a print in the New Year, and copies may be sold to aid the Omagh Fund.
On the theme of 'light shines out of the darkness', Kieran may well have created a design which, more than any other, conveys the feeling of hope amid the suffering of Omagh. Indeed, the melting wax on the candles could symbolise so many tears being shed for the town.
Drawn on a A4 file page, Winnie Winters, the teacher who had entered Kieran, and fellow pupils, in the competition, had decided that it should not be redrawn on unlined paper as it may have lost some of its character.
Heatherbank Principal, Hugh McAteer, said staff were bowled-over when they first saw the picture. The idea is original and Mr McAteer was delighted that the card had been successful in a competition against all-comers, including A-level art students.
At sixteen years of age, Kieran, from O'Kane Park, has shown himself to be an artist of considerable aptitude, indeed, art is his one abiding passion and rarely is Kieran without his sketch pad and pencil.
Mr. McAteer hopes that, in due course, Kieran enters a career that will provide a forum for what he described as his 'undoubted talent.'
Because of the overall high standard in this year's competition, which is run by the WELB, the team of judges decided to chose a further six cards which could be printed and made available to Omagh Schools, to be sold in packs of six with profits going to the Omagh Fund.
The following pupils' cards were selected for the pack of six; Alan Heany, (Gibson P.S.), Emma Pinkerton (Dunmullan P.S.),
Stephanie McDermott (St. Mary's P.S. Killyclogher), Thomas Brown, (Heatherbank School), Emma Kelly, (Loreto Convent Grammar), and Rachel Rennie, Omagh Academy.
All of the cards entered were exhibited in the WELB boardroom at last week's Education Committee meeting, and members were extremely complimentary about the quality and creativity of the pupils' work.
The Chief Executive, Joe Martin and the Senior Education Officer, Sheila McCaul, congratulated everyone involved with the competition and paid tribute to, and extended thanks to all of the teachers and pupils who supported the initiative.
Copies of the overall winning card can be obtained from Heatherbank School, priced 60 pence each.
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/0702
Published Date: 17-Dec-98
Related Images
