Artwork by Deborah Hershey
Seventeen years ago, Deborah and Scott Hershey found themselves at a crossroads in life.
Scott owned an advertising agency, and Deborah was a commercial artist. The internet quickly changed the advertising world, so they needed to find new paths.
One day, while eating lunch at The Gingerbread Man in Mechanicsburg, they noticed an unsightly storefront across the street. What others saw as a hopeless mess, the Hersheys viewed as a spot to pursue their passions and forge a new path—violins for Scott, art for Deborah.
The transformation of 11 W. Main St. was an extension of Deborah’s desire to beautify anything. Shiny brown violins of all styles and sizes cover the walls as you enter Hershey Violins, but closer to the back, color explodes. This is where Deborah’s art is displayed. Like the store, each piece tells a story.
Deborah laughs when asked which medium she works in and says, “All of them.”
Collage is her most recent pursuit. Some pieces include hand-drawn art, colorful quotes, newspaper clippings and portions of sheet music.
“It’s a very intricate process,” she said.
Like art, Deborah has loved inspirational quotes for many years. When she was a teenager, she carried a notebook and wrote down words she heard so she didn’t forget them. Her cards touch on many aspects of the human condition, including, “She does not have her ducks in a row,” “She is a torch in the darkness,” and “Some days there won’t be a song in your heart, sing anyway.”
“Every piece tells a story in several different ways,” she said.
Deborah loves watching customers browse through the selection and name friends or family members who come to mind. She seeks inspiration everywhere.
“One day, our daughter said to Scott, ‘Why are you so crunchy?’ That led to ‘Crunchy on the outside, squishy on the inside,’” she said, referring to Scott’s kindness.
Cards and matted prints are inexpensive pieces that make Deborah’s work accessible to large audiences. Her gallery also features higher-end creations composed of cut glass, oil-based paints and pastels. She coats her work with resin, which gives hard edges a smooth, touchable feel.
Much like she gives new life to old words, Deborah scours antique shops and Facebook Marketplace for used frames to enhance her work. She also likes framing her work with old, restored windows and mirrors.
An 82-year-old mirror circles a piece titled “The Edge of the World.” Deborah used stained glass, paper, paints, found objects (including beads from her mother’s jewelry), and resin to show a woman admiring seagulls flying above the ocean waves. Even though the work is flat with some slightly raised areas, the combination of materials makes the woman’s feet seem much closer to the viewer than the distant waves.
“It has depth, reflectivity and sparkle that you cannot get from a normal painting,” she said.
Merging materials to make art is not easy, but Deborah says that is not the most challenging part of the process. She often struggles with knowing when a work is finished. She turns to her trusted sounding board, Scott, to find peace. If he says a work is done, it usually is.
“I cannot rest until it gets to a certain place,” she said. “It takes a while sometimes.”
If creating art is personal, sharing it is a very public experience. Approaching galleries to accept her work fills Deborah with emotions much more turbulent than the calm waves in “The Edge of the World.” But once she clears the hurdle, she finds reward in knowing a new audience will appreciate her passion. In addition to Hershey Violins, her work is currently available at Village Artisans in Boiling Springs, History on High in Carlisle and Sea Dragon Gallery in Duck, N.C.
Deborah spends a lot of time on her art and often wakes up in the middle of the night with an idea in her mind. But she considers herself mostly jobless.
“When you love what you do, you aren’t really working,” she said.
To learn more about Deborah Hershey, visit Hershey Violins, 11 W. Main St., Mechanicsburg, or www.dlhersheydesigns.com.
If you like what we do, please support our work. Become a Friend of TheBurg!
