Cardboard Houses (Texas Country Reporter)

A woman who creates tiny houses with cardboard. But, there's a bigger message behind it all.

Shirley Perry-Church
Pearland, TX
Website: https://www.artbyshirl.com/

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Video Script:: 

hello who knows what an ambassador is everyone an ambassador I go to different schools by invitation and I talk to children or to young adults about how to become an author about how to become an artist and what happens when the two collide remember the days of homework tests and pop quizzes school felt like a never-ending search for the right answer but the best thing about surely buried churches after school program in Pearland is that the kids get to make up any answer they want when I go to my schools and art and literacy combined that means that you have the highest level of creativity using those three if you an artist and you can write and think and all of that you come up with stuff like this and if you can come up with this this retired teacher says that no matter what else the students learn it's crucial to cultivate creativity surely learned this lesson later in her own life but now she lives it every day in a house full of her own original art I like heart voice it has character I love the texture of it I tried canvas I don't like canvas but have a relationship with cardboard it kind of bends and flexing it does wouldn't want everything that you've seen in my home is self-taught pretty much it was their art it's also a reflection of Who I am again if you look around family loving family choices so my art is a reflection again of life you walk through the living room case that's called life climb and if you notice the steps some of them were broken some of them was cracked because in life we were climbing your obstacles their cracks their broken stairs and you have to know how to to maneuver around them in order to get to the top of where were you going Shirley has written an autobiography and started a series of children's books she paints and crafts and wants to share her cardboard houses with as many people as possible her latest piece the lighthouse within a lighthouse might sum it up best there's something about a lighthouse that that is symbolic of being able to guide that light is a guiding force so I wanted the lighthouse to guide people to be representative of where you need to be the path that you need to be on follow the light so that lighthouse is met Natalie instead of guiding ships to guide people absolutely hearts and souls I'm into critical thinking especially for young folks because that's one thing that they don't do you hear parents say well what were you thinking it's most of the time they weren't thinking but when you put this my stairs a lot of my pictures my images I won't say pictures my art when you put those in front of a developing mind I'm gonna sit an adolescent whether goes oh why does she have a lighthouse within a lighthouse when they ask you that question you know you got cuz man you're thinking why is there a lighthouse inside when you tell me why why do you think a lighthouse is inside of laughs look closer what do you see why would the artists do that but see that's what art is about it's not so much my interpretation of it it's what you get from it and this is for young folks Shirley's art is for all young people but especially for one little girl who could have used it herself she wishes she would have felt more hope and inspiration during some tough times as a child and even though she can't change the past she's doing the next best thing with her positive message changing the future by reaching out to one child at a time that's what I feel I want to challenge I wanted to be challenged in a positive way growing up I loved school and the teachers who challenged me we're also also have to give them credit for me being where I am today for being in front of you for not being afraid to speak and tell my truth because they're me there's so many kids that was Shirley Gail you can't really grasp that reading who can't grasp learning they're struggling that know the potential that they have if somebody just tell them baby you couldn't be anything you want to do you can do it that's my goal that's my purpose but if I can do it through all right in my books that's where I want to do that's where I want to be [Music] you