Gifts with lots of Dairy Flair!
If you are looking for a one-of-a-kind Christmas gift, then read on…Debbie Cornman is an artist for the dairy community and so much more! Check out pictures of the many different projects she has completed at the end of the story.
Dairy Background
Debbie Cornman is from Boiling Springs, PA, and has always had a keen interest and love for the dairy cow. Her Grandfather, Harold Young, of Newville, Pa, owned and operated a herd of registered Milking Shorthorns. Many people will recognize the farm prefix Three Springs Farm. She spent her formative years there, helping with the calf feeding and eventually helping with the milking chores. Debbie states, “When I was old enough to join 4-H, Grandpa Young gave me ‘Minnie’ my first 4-H calf. I participated in all of the 4-H dairy activities, shows, workshops, and judging.”
In 1972 she competed in the Cumberland county dairy princess contest, and was first runner up out of 14 contestants. In that same year, she was the high individual and won the 4-H State Days dairy judging contest. This qualified her to compete at the National 4-H judging contest. Debbie recalls, “In this contest I remember giving a set of reasons to Lloyd Ebersole. The class was Brown Swiss cow class. I was very nervous but confident I placed the class correct, when I finally received my scores Mr. Ebersole gave me a 50 on reasons, I was really excited and surprised. At that time the national contest was held in Columbus, Ohio, before Madison. Overall, it was not my day, but I loved the experience of travel and seeing the different farms where we practiced.”
Debbie gave demonstrations at local, district and state events. She held all of the club officer positions and was active as a teen leader. Back then 4-H record keeping was highly encouraged, so you could fill out the “Blue Form”, which she did. In 1973 she won the state title for Outstanding Girl in Leadership. Winning this award resulted in a trip to Chicago, IL to the National Club Congress.
Debbie went to work as a secretary for the Cumberland County Extension Office. She stayed active in 4-H and helped with the County Dairy Princess Program and the dairy judging competition at the All-American Dairy Show. Meanwhile, she continued to show animals at the various county and state shows.
4-H has been an important part of Debbie’s life. I guess it’s not surprising that she met her husband through the 4-H dairy club. They were friends for a number of years before they dated and the rest is history. Steve’s parents are Creedin and Ellen Cornman of Carlisle, PA. Their farm was and Justa Beauty Holsteins and it was also home of the “Trixie” cow family.
Steve and Debbie have two children. Their daughter Rebecca is married to Jeremy Daubert. They have an almost four year old daughter, Hayley Ann, and are dairy farmers in Bainbridge, New York. Their prefix is Standard of Excellence. Jeremy’s parents are Dean and Brenda Daubert of Victory Acres Brown Swiss. Steve and Debbie’s son, Aaron, is currently milking registered Holsteins and Brown Swiss with his wife Lisa, and are using the Justa-Beauty prefix.
After Steve and Debbie were married, they lived in Fresno, CA for 5 years. Steve was the assistant herdsman for Producers Dairy, a registered herd. Debbie became the office secretary. She kept herd records and registrations up to date and gave tours to the school children. They participated in Holstein activities and showed the Producer Dairy cattle at the Western National shows.
In 1982, they moved back to PA. Debbie, once again, joined the County Dairy Princess promotion committee. They volunteered their time and cows to visit the schools to teach and show the students that milk comes from the cow. At the time, Debbie was also busy raising her children. She went to work for Purina Mills and worked there for 10 years.
Becoming involved with the magazine, PA Profiles
Debbie heard about an opening for the Pennsylvania Profiles editor’s job, while attending a local county Holstein club picnic. She explains, “I immediately obtained the job application and sent in my resume. I received a call and was interviewed by the committee. The position was offered to me and I accepted. With only 4 issues per year, it’s not a full time job. However, it is a full time job while the issues are being prepared and put together. I am responsible for developing a theme and acquiring agri-business and breeder ads. Several weeks before print I am working non-stop with the publisher and advertiser to be sure the ads are correct. I offer a service where the breeders see a proof of their ads before it is to be printed. This helps to evaluate the ads and correct any errors.” Debbie tries to work her schedule so that she can attend more county club activities, sales and shows around the state. She enjoys meeting the Holstein Breeders from around the state, talking with them and especially taking photos. Her candid photos are used in the Profiles, if space permits.
Debbie explains her goals for the PA Profiles, “I would like to continue to produce a breed magazine that is informative, interesting, sharing of breeding philosophies and breeders behind these great Holsteins. I want to encourage the young people in the industry to participate, with photos, writing articles, and developing ads. I see the Profiles continuing to grow as more breeders participate in advertising their cattle. I would like every county club to submit an ad to promote their county. “
The Pennsylvania Holstein Association has the largest state membership in the nation. The best way to promote Pennsylvania Holsteins is through advertising and the PA Profile does just that. If the Profiles is successful, then the advertiser is successful.
Her art career
Debbie’s art career started when she was very small. She would draw from the cartoons in the paper or from some of her favorite books. Most of the drawings were of animals, horses, cows, rabbits, dogs and cats. Both of her parents, Floyd and Mae Hemminger, are very creative. Debbie recalls, “I remember my dad painting on the front storm door at Christmas time. He would take a previous holiday card and paint it on the inside of the front door. He used temper paints so they could be washed off after the Holiday. I was probably 8 or 9 when dad would help me draw the card and then I would paint it on the door. I was actually doing revise glass painting before it was popular. My father used to sit and sketch us when we were little. I still have his sketches. Dad was a master with wood he made all the large pieces in our house, including a gun cabinet, desk, a TV-entertainment area and china cupboards. My mother can knit anything you show her, including beautiful sweaters. She has a great eye for color and each room in her house has a color theme and is tastefully decorated. She also likes to quilt and has a fabulous garden. They both encouraged me to draw or paint.” Over the years, Debbie has learned many crafts; knitting, crewel, quilting, crocheting, and cross stitch, but has always continued to draw and paint.
When Debbie and Steve lived in Fresno, she studied at the Langdon Studio. She joined the “Free Lance” class. It was designed for artists that wanted to improve their painting skills. She gained a great deal from this class and that is where her love of painting dairy cattle portraits began.
Upon returning to Pennsylvania, she still continued to paint and became involved in painting decorative items out of wood, metal, canvas and attended local craft shows. Several people told her that they were interested in learning to paint. So, she began teaching ladies to paint at her house and later moved the classes to the local high school and offered classes through the adult education classes. The classes have been very popular for the last 20 years. Debbie comments, “I continue to learn new painting techniques and share that knowledge with others. I love teaching. It is rewarding to see someone’s excitement when they have completed a project.”
Debbie continues, “In high school I had a wonderful art teacher, Mrs. Wagner. She introduced me to the art of calligraphy, for which I am grateful. She saw I had a natural talent for creating fancy lettering and gave me her set of steel brushes. They are a treasure for me, and I still use them for poster work. I am taking my calligraphy skills, and making our own show signs for the various cattle shows. I have created several wedding invitations including my children’s when they were married. I also have a special design for wedding certificates and birth certificates that folks can order.”
Debbie comments about one of her new talents, “A few years ago, I traveled to Texas to learn the art of hand-engraving from a well known Calligrapher, Ken Brown. I now offer hand engraved items at my studio. I can duplicate a corporate logo or hand-engrave a special font called “Copperplate” to hand engrave on glass or metal items. I engrave on wine bottles, cups, mugs, wine glasses, plates, vases, knives, golf clubs, and many other items.”
When she opened her own art studio, she decided to expand her skills and services for the customer and took a class from the Ralph Lauren Company. That allowed her to become certified in decorative faux painting. Her art has expanded to larger surfaces. She became a certified Ralph Lauren decorative artist in 2006. With a vast knowledge of color and painting skills, she is able to offer home owners the possibility of updating their homes with a new wall finish and color. She offers the following techniques, leather, denim, linen, suede, river rock, old world aging, old stone, and more. Debbie’s studio is located in Carlisle, PA, where other women operate their own businesses. She enjoys being around these women, so that they can share ideas and help each other with events
Over the last thirty years, Debbie has developed and fine tuned several techniques. She offers a Calligraphy service to create invitations for weddings, parties, certificates and more. She makes special birth and wedding certificates. She has created several State and National Holstein Convention Logos and assists advertisers with their logos. She hand engraves and is able to create very special and unique awards for a variety of local, regional and state fairs, which can include engraving the different dairy breed heads on them. The items can be glass pitchers, cups, plates or metal plates and trays. This year, Debbie was very excited about making the first place awards for the 45th Anniversary of the All-American Dairy Show. Debbie comments, “My most outstanding art accomplishment happened last year when my painted ornament was chosen to hang on the White House Christmas tree. There were 350 artists personally invited to a reception giving by Mrs. Laura Bush. What a grand experience for me to attend this absolutely gorgeous reception in the White House and to meet and have our picture taken with Mrs. Bush.”
In 1978, Debbie found her love of painting animal portraits and started by painting her own 4-H dairy cow, Minnie. She has been painting dairy cattle portraits ever since and for many famous herds, Keystone Farm, Justa-Beauty Holsteins, Tri-Day Holsteins, Heilinger Brown Swiss, New Directions Holsteins, Victory Acress Swiss, Albright Holsteins, Terri Martin Swiss, Kingsway Holsteins, Santee Acres, to name a few. Her latest paintings are large murals. She finished a 9 ft. x 12 foot landscape mural for a local retired farmer, Mr. F. Glenn Peffer, titled “Memories”.
Debbie advertises in the Holstein World’s Country Store and has received a number of requests for her services. You may also want to add some of Debbie’s beautiful art work to your Christmas list!
Debbie Cornman
107 Third Street, Boiling Springs, PA 17007
Phone: 717-258-3166
Cell – 717-609-2155
Fax – 717-258-3166
email – dacpainter@comcast.net
www.debsstudio.com
Samples of Deb’s work!
In the summer of 2008 Deb completed a special mural project. Here are some snapshots of the projects from beginning to end!
