From The Attic
It was late September or early October.
The brisk mornings and cold evenings had changed the leaves to a mix of yellow, green, orange, and red. The summer sun still refused to give up the middle of each day and this combination created a beautiful Indian summer. Inspired by the weather, Mr. Vernon Nye, our watercolor teacher, had us gather our painting supplies and moved class to the lawn in front of the Fine Arts building. As a demonstration, he chose to paint an elkhorn tree that was brilliantly colored by the fall weather. I can remember his hands moving with confidence over the paper, lightly placing the brushstrokes, never overworking the color or paper.
‘Make it fresh and juicy, not dry and hairy,’ he instructed us. It was a saying I was to hear many times in the course of my study with him. It is a mantra that I repeat to my students now that I’m a teacher. At the close of the class, I asked for the demonstration sketch. It is one of my treasures to this day.”
~ Vanessa Jensen Ellis, 1978 graduate
Small photograph, foreground left