Saturday, May 11, 2024
Shelby Slawson, state representative for Texas House District 59, recently placed a new ornament on the Texas House Christmas tree.
The ornament was painted and designed by local artist Teresa Houston to represent Granbury and the rest of House District 59.
According to a previous article in the HCN, Houston was recommended to paint the ornament by Visit Granbury Director Tammy Dooley.
"Shelby Slawson’s office reached out to me and said every year they get a glass ornament to have decorated for the House of Representative’s tree,” Dooley told the HCN. “It usually reflects the district in some way. They wondered if I knew of a local Granbury artist who might be great. I thought of Teresa. She is an amazing artist. I love her work, and she is a retired art teacher. She really impressed us!”
Slawson made a post on her Shelby Slawson for Texas Facebook page on Dec. 2, showcasing photos of her placing Houston’s ornament on the Texas House tree.
“Each year, every district gets to have an ornament decorated and placed on the tree,” reads a post from the Shelby Slawson for Texas Facebook page. “This year’s ornament was painted for HD59 by the very talented Teresa Houston of Granbury. Thank you, Teresa — it’s beautiful!”
A different town is selected by the offices of the House districts every year and asked to represent each district with an ornament. Granbury was last chosen in 2019 when artist Olivia Banz was chosen to provide the ornament for Mike Lang’s office.
Although the Granbury courthouse provides a recognizable symbol of Granbury, Houston told the HCN in a previous article she needed some fresh imagery as the courthouse had been used before to represent Granbury on an ornament.
“I sat down and started thinking about Granbury. I had some imagery in mind,” Houston said, in a previous HCN article. “The Brazos Motel sign, the peak. Sure enough, when I googled Granbury those are the images that came up. I also thought about this old truck they used to have in front of Witherspoons — they had a giant Christmas tree in the back of the truck.”
Houston used the three images to represent the town; she painted blue across the bottom to signify the lake, while the fiery colors on the top of the ornament symbolize the striking sunsets over Granbury.
The ornament was topped with a sprig of greenery and ribbon.
The Texas House Christmas tree with the ornaments recognizing the House districts of Texas will be on display in Austin through Jan. 2.
