CLARKS SUMMIT — For a woman abundantly gifted with creative talent, and with a warm and unassuming manner, one would never guess Shirley Wagner Eagen is the artist behind thousands of paintings and sketches, including the local “Our Town” series notecards. She has won hundreds of awards and prizes — too many to list. But, one of her accomplishments is AARP selecting her work for their calendar from over 5,000 entrants.
Eagen’s journey began when she was 6 or 7 years old.
“As my mother and father would say, I was using up all the paper,” she chuckled. “Mrs. Marwine, my next door neighbor, saw my sketches and said they were good but I needed lessons. So, she started me off.”
Eagen explained how there wasn’t a lot offered at the time. She attended a one room school. But, as she likes to say, “There’s always a way to find art.”
And find art she did. Eagen moved away from home and majored in interior design and art. When she graduated, she went to New York for a while. Eventually, her father wanted her to return home to Mount Pocono and, as Eagen explained, “When your father said something back then, you just did it.”
She landed a job in Scranton at Stohr and Fister.
“Oh, it was amazing,” Eagen lit up at the memory. “It was a big furniture store with six floors of everything, and they needed an interior designer and buyer. I like to tell that story to let young people know they have to really look, and then they can find the art.”
Eagen eventually married and had two children. “They would be jumping around, and I would paint,” laughed Eagen.
At one point, Eagen thought about becoming a real estate agent. “My late husband said to me, ‘Why would you do that when you have a gift? Why not have your own business?’” So, she started Swagner Interiors and went, “knock, knock, knocking on doors.”
By the late 70s and 80s, she had an Irish import store on Depot Street in Clarks Summit, called Shanty n’ Lace. She traveled to Ireland and actually met the town’s people in the country and sold their crafts. Eagen expected she would paint in the back of the store as customers gradually came in, but the store was unique and busy all of the time. Even buses came from out of town and shopped for weddings and holidays. It is just another tribute to her artistry, creativity and industrious nature.
Eagen’s daughter Gretchen E. Mackie recalls growing up and watching her mother and how motivating it was.
“I was inspired by my mother quite a bit. She made clothes and curtains. I adored her talent and loved to see her draw and paint. I tell her that her true love is art and painting,” said Mackie.
Eagen’s son Jay Eagen served as Chief Administrative Officer for the United States House of Representatives until he retired in 2007. When Eagen heard he didn’t have a window in his office, she painted him one to hang on the wall.
When asked about her “Our Town” sketches of landmarks throughout the Abingtons, Eagen said, “From 2013, I started painting our town. It is 10 colored pencil sketches of buildings that encompass our local businesses, many housed in older buildings.” Eagen continued, “Then I did another 10 throughout the Abingtons.”
It was her friend and business owner Dorothy O’Connor who suggested Eagen start selling the notecards. They then established the “Our Town” ART Scholarship and Awards for juniors and seniors at Abington Heights High School.
This fundraiser is a way for Eagen to give back to the community she loves and help future artists at the same time.
These sketches from a nationally renowned artist are being sold as a set of 12 notecards for $15. They can be found in the Abington Community Library, The Gathering Place, Everything Natural and the Abington Civic League Inc. And Eagen is looking for other stores to support her project. Anyone interested may contact her daughter Gretchen Mackie at 570-878-9795.
In her home, Eagen is surrounded by years of her creativity — art work — her treasures on her walls. But, to new and upcoming artists, she’s quick to warn, “Make sure you keep some of your work and don’t give or sell it all away.”
“Let me end with a funny story about art being everywhere and how it’s all about perspective,” Eagen said. “One day I was in my bathroom and decided to paint the robes hanging there. When my husband came home, he found me on the john painting and had a good laugh. And that limited edition piece became known as Baltimore Bath.”
Eagen clearly enjoys people and her art, but her real love is in letting young artists know they can start something for themselves, too.
“When you start one thing, you can open yet another door.” That’s Eagen’s sage advice to budding young artists everywhere.
