A Christmas Card special

Dec. 19—This Christmas was special for one employee of The Huntsville Item, whose creative talents were showcased in a special way.

Tri-County Behavioral Healthcare sponsors an annual Christmas card competition and this year's winner was Danielle Henley Nealy.

"I've known from an early age that I wanted to draw. My mother was a very good artist who did portraits. She initially worked for the telephone company as a graphic artist. When she became a full time housewife, she decided to paint the characters in a 1969 western, Paint Your Wagon, starring Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood," said Nealy. "She painted with oils and the results were awesome."

Nealy was raised in Huffman, Texas, where she attended school.

"I realized in middle school that if I was doodling during class it increased my comprehension and reduced my anxiety," said Nealy. "But I never felt I had my mother's talent so I never focused on my drawing full time until my uncle passed and I painted his portrait as a way to deal with the loss."

To help raise money for the funeral, his portrait was auctioned off and was a big hit. This approval gave me the self esteem to do more portraits. Prior to this, Henly did a lot of crafts and wood work and sold them at craft shows and special requests from friends.

"One of my biggest challenges came when a friend saw a competition on the internet from the Florida Lightning Hockey team.

They were sponsoring a competition for entries to design/draw their logo as a commentative unique ticket which would be given to guests attending a ball.

"At the time I was working with punch tin and my concept was to create a bookmark style ticket on the tin," Nealy said. "I received a call that my entry was the first runner up. It was such a honor to be selected in the top two."

In her forties, Nealy experienced a mental health crisis and sought services through Tri-County Behavioral Healthcare.

"My caseworker was aware that I enjoyed drawing and crafts and she suggested I enter their annual Christmas card competition circa 2018," Nealy said.

These are the official cards that are sent out from the agency to the community.

"My design was a Santa in a truck with a Christmas tree in the back and I won first place," Nealy said.

When the competition came back around the following year, Nealy's caseworker pressed her to work on another entry.

"This time I drew an ornament under a Christmas tree and inside the ornament I drew a village with people ice skating and other small details. She later called and said I won again."

Life happened and her house was flooded and Nealy put her artwork behind her.

"But I continued to receive mental health services and do small projects. This year I asked my new therapist for the application," Nealy said.

"I wanted to draw something that was happy, with some western effects (the barn) and lots of details," said Nealy.

The bird, a cardinal, was purposefully added to represent family and pets who are departed. And yes, Nealy won this year's competition.

"This brings me so much joy and now I have so many project requests from family and friends. But I plan to make time to make somethings for my husband in appreciation for his patience."

Nealy encourages anyone who is interested in art and crafts to start off slow and watch videos that will help you learn different techniques and just have fun.

Nealy has over five years of service to The Huntsville Item.