Many years ago before Union County became a county, Lloyd Branson spawned the heritage of Union County painters, especially portrait artists.

Of course, everyone is familiar with Betty Bullen, the creative artist for Union County Heritage Festival. But Betty did not just wake up one day as an accomplished artist. She had a teacher who helped develop her talent. That teacher was Aurora Harrison Bull. Aurora has been inspiring artists and creativity for decades. Like the teacher she is, her students fuel her passion for art.

When Dr. Lauren Effler received the Governor’s Early Literacy Foundation Book Bus Grant, she asked if Aurora and her students would like to paint the bus. But time proved that the project would be Aurora’s responsibility by herself. Admittedly, Aurora had never painted a bus and knew very little about the process of transferring her ideas through a vinyl wrap done by Foxy Wraps. But with the same adventurous spirit that propelled her to become a successful artist and an art teacher, she gathered several feet of poster paper and began to sketch her ideas. Effler had casually suggested that maybe the bus could be a time capsule of Maynardville and Union County history.

So Aurora began to sketch the historic buildings that reflected the colorful heritage of Maynardville and Union County. She sketched a tobacco barn that portrayed the past economy of Union County. In a family portrait she painted her husband Earl and his horse Bucky plowing as Union County farmers have done for centuries. She drew the Sinclair Gas Station and contrasted it with the Emily Link Gazebo complete with a four-piece performing country band of a guitar, banjo, mandolin and fiddle. The banjo, her husband's chosen instrument, appears in several different vignettes throughout the mural.

Aurora also captured Union County citizens boating on Norris Lake and picnicking on the lakeshore. Sprinkled throughout are subtle references to the importance of reading and spending time with friends and family. Traveling to the other side of the bus, reading with friends and family becomes a focal point. Children read everywhere from a bench near the Historic Maynardville State Bank and the Dr. Carr Office to a sprawling nearby tree similar to the one on the Maynardville Elementary Playground.

Aurora commented that the work was really not work at all, but at least a three-month labor of love that took cooperation from everyone involved. The actual timeline was nearly a year as Aurora continued to teach five classes a week in Oak Ridge, Fountain City and Maynardville.
She visited the Book Bus on last month to meet some of the many student readers and see firsthand the tremendous result and impact of her labor of love. Parents, grandparents, and children came to meet Aurora, choose books, and return home with the memory of her inspiration and with a pack of Ramen Noodles for Reading with Ramen over fall break.