Art by Ave Hurley

LadyMadonnah

Ave Hurley of Ave Hurley Illustrations, also known online as LadyMadonnah and AveHurley [each online screen names] for Ave Maria Cosgriff Hurley, who was born in Brooklyn NY, on March 25,1954 as the 3rd child of Gene { Singergene} and Edwina Reardon Cosgriff and is 1 of 14 brothers and sisters.Articles relating to her can be found in search engines under ’avehurleyillustrations’,’avehurley’ and Ave Hurley.
Ave had a promising start in art demonstrating her skills at an early age before starting school at St.Patrick’s Roman Catholic School in Brooklyn.
While in first grade the school’s art teacher, Thaya Von Eros, took Ave under wing and began giving private art lessons, after school to test and advance Ave’s natural skills in art.Lessons continued till Ave’s family moved to Staten Island in 1964.
Attending PS3 in Pleasant Plains, Ave received art awards and excelled on any art related project given to do at the school.
From 1966-68, Elias Bernstein Jr High School, http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vc2Nob29scy5ueWMuZ292L1NjaG9vbFBvcnRhbHMvMzEvUjAwNy9kZWZhdWx0Lmh0bQ== Ave was in the top of her class and artistic participant on the school yearbook and began entering Art Shows. While attending Tottenville High School on Staten Island, Ave received the prestigious "Freshman Art Award" given to her in a formal ceremony at the Grace Rainey Rodgers auditorium of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ave began selling her artworks to teachers and local members of the community.She was further aided in developing her art studies by Mrs.Theresa DiGuiseppe ,of NewDorp, her high school art teacher , who referred Ave to after school lessons on weekends at Susan Wagner High School.
In 1969 Ave was one of the youngest entrant/participants at the Sailor’s Snug Harbor Arts Festival http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LnN0YXRlbmlzbGFuZGFydHMub3JnL2N1bHR1cmFsL2N1bHR1cmFsLmh0bWw= where she sold out all her paintings in a record few hours of the first day of the show.From this point on she began taking ’commissioned’ jobs from teachers and friends.
In 1970 Ave began signpainting and repainted the signs for the South Shore Little League http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LnRvdHRlbnZpbGxlaGlzdG9yeS5jb20vcGhvdG8tYWxidW0vcGhvdG8zNC5odG1s followed by commissions to paint signs for several stores in her hometown of Pleasant Plains and in Tottenville.
While working for Bregman and Co., a Wall St broker, in 1971 Ave did some paintings for the partners and began taking commissions from lawyers, doctors and politicians. Still she considered it all a side line and was not her main focus becoming more of a hobby.
In 1982 Ave attended the Staten Island Community College and began taking more art classes til a difficult pregnancy forced her to resign from school.
While living on a farm in Hornby NY, Ave began doing pen & ink illustrations for the Corning Chamber of Commerce http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LmRpc2NvdmVyb3VydG93bi5jb20vTlkvbG9jYWwtMTE0OTE0Lmh0bWw= in 1987, making postcards and notecards for local Market Street store owners before moving to Towanda Pennsylvania and beginning new commissions for local residents and store owners on Main Street before being asked by the Main Street Managers Association to aid in the fundraising to renovate and reopen the Hale Opera House as a new movie theater called the "Keystone Theater", http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LmJjcmFjLm9yZy90aGVhdGVyX2tleXN0b25lX2hpc3RvcnkucGhw making a detailed illustration of the historic building and the image being sold on shirts and cards, which helped raised the needed funds to complete the renovations and re-opening the Theater in 1988.
Ave also did detailed pen & inks illustrations of the historic Bradford County Courthouse http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vYnJhZGZvcmQtcGEuY29tL2dvdi9iYy1nb3YucGhw that was used to help raise funds for the local hospital’s auxilliary auction and a tourism designed billboard promoting Towanda.
She was determined to do her artwork, despite her withered hand and how much longer it took her to draw or paint, however she worked as a volunteer since her health was deteriorating.
It was in 1984, when Ave was busy as a new mother that she was doing few private commissions.mostlys sign painting for local stores on Staten Island as well as mural work for doctors offices, that she had an accident which severed her right wrist in May of 1984 causing claw hand deformity and 85% paralysis of her right hand http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LndoZWVsZXNzb25saW5lLmNvbS9vcnRoby9pbnRyaW5zaWNfd2Vha25lc3NfYW5kX2NsYXdfaGFuZA==. Ave stopped persuing a career in doing her artwork and retired to the country, moving to North Central Pennsylvania. She cut all ties with her NYC art patrons and was married, set about to raise her 5 children.
She was inspired by Joni Ericksen Tada who painted with her mouth after a skiing accident left her paralyzed yet still persued her artistic talents http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LmpvbmlhbmRmcmllbmRzLm9yZy8= so Ave taped a pen or brush to her hand and began to learn to draw again.
During the early 90’s Ave began to do volunteer art works for the Knoxville Little League, calling herself an ’amateur’ but there was nothing amateur about her visible talents.Soon she was asked to to signs for local stores and play scenery for local churches, despite her insecurity over her ability to paint as well as she did prior to her accident.
In 2005 Ave travelled to the west and did some volunteer art work for places such as ’Crown Charter School’, http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LmNyb3duY2hhcnRlci5jb20v in Phoenix, Az., where in May 2005 she painted over 100 children’s faces, outdoors, during a school festival at called "Whacky Tacky Beach Day", in which it was over 108 degrees but rather than having fun with the water rides, kids lined up for hours in the heat of the day to have some of Ave’s art painted on their face, hands or shoulders. Ave did other volunteer painting at that school as well.
In November of 2005, while visiting Victory Highway Wesleyan Church in Painted Post NY, http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LnZpY3RvcnloaWdod2F5LmNvbS8= a request was made to the congregation for needed volunteers with artistic talent to aid in doing play scenery for a benefit play that would refill local food pantries so they could provide charity food baskets to give away for Christmas. Ave volunteered and worked for 5 weeks nonstop to go and create the best scenery the church ever had for their annual play, " Two from Galilee".
That Broadway style musical show was a complete success with several showings and the sets remained installed for more than a month after the show due to their beauty. Ave was told that the sets would be saved for future use because of the quality they were made of.
In Spring of 2006 Ave was asked again to do another play for the benefit of a missionary program and completed the sets in less than a week prior to surgery she was to receive. That dinner play called " Uncle Phil’s Diner" was also a success.
Around this time, Ave’s withered right hand began to regain feeling and upon medical examination was told that for some reason after 21 yrs that her hand was in fact regenerating nerves and feeling was returning.No medical explanation could be made for this sudden improvement, so Ave gave all the glory to God for the return of usage to her hand and now does volunteer art wherever it can give God glory. http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LmxvY2toYXZlbi5jb20vcGFnZS9jb250ZW50LmRldGFpbC9pZC81MDE1NDkuaHRtbA==
Ave’s life has been fraught with medical problems, disabling her from full time employment since 1991, having been diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Erythomotosis, Sarcoidosis, Degenerative Disc Disease, Gastro Esophygeal Reflux Disease, Heart Disease and more which has caused her to focus more on doing her artwork to pass the time and is now once again working as a volunteer doing art projects and has recently done play sets for the ’Nutcracker Suite’ for Light of Life Performing Arts [Dance School] ministries in York Pennsylvania in December 2007 and a mural "Jesus on the Mount of Olives looking at Jerusalem", at the Charleston Chapel in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LmxvY2toYXZlbi5jb20vcGFnZS9jb250ZW50LmRldGFpbC9pZC81MDE1NDguaHRtbA==
Being homebound most of her time due to her disabilities, Ave now displays and sells her artwork online modestly on shops such as www.AveHurley.etsy.com and on ebay as "AveHurleyIllustrations", making ACEO’s [ Art Cards Edition Originals" also called Art Trading Cards as well as personally made prints of her artwork for framing and greeting cards.
Since her accident and onset of her disabilities, Ave has done her artwork more as an activity but to all those who have been recipients of her talent, they remain puzzled that she doesn’t have a thriving business and are often shocked at the exceptional value and quality they receive in her art works.
With encouragement from those who love her style of art and accomplishments, Ave is now showing more and more of her works online and making them available to the general public, but for now it is mostly still by word of mouth since Ave left NYC in 1985.
Showings of her newer artworks can be readily seen in one of her online portfolios at http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LmFydHdhbnRlZC5jb20vQXZlSHVybGV5 and at http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LmF2ZWh1cmxleS5ldHN5LmNvbS8= and she is developing a new gallery domain at http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LmF2ZWh1cmxleWlsbHVzdHJhdGlvbnMuY29tLw==
Those who are collecting Ave Hurley Illustrations cherish them as rare and valuable collectible art. She can be found in most search engines under AveHurleyIllustrations, AveHurley, and Ave Hurley. Some of her works are sold very inexpensively on Etsy and Ebay, http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vc2VhcmNoLmViYXkuY29tL19XMFFRc2Fzc1phdmVodXJsZXlpbGx1c3RyYXRpb25z but are viewable at ArtWanted.com http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LmFydHdhbnRlZC5jb20vYXJ0aXN0LmNmbT9hcnRpZD00MDA1Mw== and other online fine art galleries http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LmZpbmVhcnRhbWVyaWNhLmNvbS9wcm9maWxlcy9hdmUtaHVybGV5Lmh0bWw= and http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LmFydGlzdHJpc2luZy5jb20vcHJvZHVjdHMvMjI1ODYzL3RoZS1vLXJlZ2FuLWZsb3JhbC1jb3R0YWdlLmh0bQ== and other showplaces