By: Callie Sikkenga

There is a piece of artwork above the library entrance named Every New Day. This piece was created by Deborah Hoover, a local artist, and fifteen Grandville High School students. This painting, and process, had several donors such as Arts Council of Greater Grand Rapids, Binda Foundation,Grandville Public Schools, Grandville Education Foundation, and Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs. 

Deborah Hoover states, ¨I created the painting Every New Day. Ginger Sissons, the head of the Grandville High School Library saw my paintings and contacted me to create art with the students for the library.” Says Deborah. She created six different small concept paintings and the 1998 library staff chose Every New Day as the piece to be completed and hung. She and the fifteen students worked together to create this concept and produce the real thing. Deborah also states “I taught the (…)students watercolor painting during their regular art class, plus demonstrated watercolor painting to the high school, junior high art classes and some of the elementary classes.”

Every New Day was created using a watercolor method taught by Deborah to the students. When asking Deborah details about how she created the painting she stated “The students soaked the watercolor paper, laid it on a large piece of plywood, dried the surface and poured watercolor paint on the paper, manipulating it by picking up the paper by a corner or lifting the plywood to get the paint to flow in a direction. The students stapled the paper to the plywood (watercolor paper expands while wet and shrinks while drying). Once dried layers of paint were added with brushes.” This whole process was finished on May 2nd, 1999, and was hung in the library.

Deborah Hoover states that she creates art to “make the unseen seen with acrylic and watercolor paintings.” Every New Day is an abstract watercolor painting with a deeper meaning. Deborah explains that “Every New Day is a painting that looks to the future with hope. The symbolism of a sunrise and an abstract bird taking flight is meant to convey that every day is new with new possibilities for the future.” She uses abstract colors and ideas in all of her art as a way to express different things. 

Every New Day is a beautiful painting that many of us may not have paid much attention to. This is a deep and complex painting that people should learn about and show appreciation towards. If you like Deborah Hoover’s art you can see her at artprize almost every year. She also has an instagram account with plenty of her work posted. There is also a website owned by her where you can view and purchase her paintings if you want one for yourself. She is a west Michigan artist who has completed 100’s of unique paintings. Next time you are in the library, take a moment to admire this work of art.
Deborah Hoover Gallery