Stools to Drool Over
Hilda
Tellman uses her
artistic touch to create colorful stools
By
Helen E. McKinney
Contributing Writer
CAMPBELLSBURG, Ky. – (October 2002) Business picks
up about this time of the year for artist Hilda Tellman. She is in high
demand for her innovative step stools.
Using pinewood she acquires from the local lumberyard, Tellman and her
husband, Mike, craft an item children and parents can treasure for years
to come.
A self-taught painter, Tellman used to sell her work through a store
in Louisville’s Oxmoor Mall. The store closed several years ago,
but Tellman continued to craft stools, improving them since first coming
up with the idea.
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Henry Co.'s Hilda Tellman |
Onto her stools she paints a variety of themes pertaining
to children’s interests, such as Walt Disney characters, trains,
balloons and sports motifs. She personalizes each with the child’s
name and an art design that describes the child’s personality.
She also crafts wall plaques, coat hangers and benches for older children
and adults to use. The stools are 7 inches tall and the benches are
12 inches tall and are perfect for children to sit on while getting
dressed or putting on their shoes.
For inspiration, Tellman reflects about what children like and what
they are attracted to on TV. Boys may prefer a John Deere tractor on
their stool, while girls are more partial to a Raggedy Ann doll.
She said grandparents are some of her biggest customers. She designs
a lot of stools and benches for grandparents, gracing her artwork with
the grandchildren’s names.
Tellman, who moved to Henry County, Ky., three years ago from Louisville,
said her love for art began in first grade. She said that others took
notice of her talent and whenever an art contest was being sponsored,
“the other kids would have me do the artwork for them. I did it
for my own kids, too.”
She has created personal artwork for Valley High School in Louisville
by producing sports layouts of departing seniors who were members of
the basketball or baseball teams.
She said she was approached at an art show by a Valley High School student’s
parent who had noticed her UK and UL sports artwork. The parent asked
if she would consider creating artwork focusing on the school’s
sports teams. Once coaches found out about her talent, they, too, asked
her to create sports layouts for the students.
Tellman no longer participates in as many local art shows as she once
did but rather focuses on crafting her stools and benches and selling
them wholesale through specialty stores in Maryland and North Carolina.
They can also be found in the Shelby County Flea Market.
Two of the few shows she will have a booth set up at are Glendale Crossing
Day on Oct. 19 in Glendale, Ky., and at the Louisville Christmas Show
II on Nov. 9-10. This latter show will be held at Slugger Field, where
organizer Georgie Kelly of Madison, Ind., said she has 13,000 square
feet to offer crafters. Kelly is the paid organizer of the Madison Chautauqua
Festival of Art.
Kelly has worked with Tellman in the past and said of her work, “Her
products for children are colorful and really popular.”
• Tellman takes special orders on request. To contact her for further information, call or fax her at (502) 947-9114.