It was a contest and we were all judges. The charcoal drawings were held up by the teacher, Miss Personius. She was exactly like her name; Precise, smart, well dressed and predictable. That was what every student yearned for. Above all else she was fair. You knew what to expect and knew that she would always understand and come through for you.
Everyone agreed that there were 2 especially good drawings and for some reason we needed to decide which one was best. Maybe the kids all had to know or there was an exhibition that the one drawing would enter. I don't remember that and I don't know why my drawing wasn't up there. Maybe I had been sick and wasn't there for the art class.
My favorite drawing was of a tree. It showed the texture of the bark and was an unusually close up look at the tree trunk with just one or two branches. The other drawing was of a horse. Again close up with just the profile of the horses head. But I wasn't impressed because I refused to let the subject matter influence my vote.
The votes were split and there was lots of disagreement and loud chatter about which one was number one. Then Miss Personius asked me, "Anna what do you think? Which one do you like best?"
There I sat in the back of the row of desks and then stood up like many of the kids who were too exited to keep their seats. "The tree", I said with conviction. There was silence and then everyone started chattering and debating all over again. We voted again and this time the tree won.
I walked up to the front of the class and stared at the two drawings. There was the horse; beautiful like horses are and there was the tree. I couldn't understand why it looked so different. The bark was represented by short course lines and the outline was so primitive. I was kind of surprised because it looked very realistic from my seat in the back of the room but up close it looked so different. It was not realistic but it was interesting and very black and white.
Miss Personius was one of the best teachers in the world and she knew her class well. It wasn't long before I was getting used to wearing glasses. Now I would see the world differently.
Everyone agreed that there were 2 especially good drawings and for some reason we needed to decide which one was best. Maybe the kids all had to know or there was an exhibition that the one drawing would enter. I don't remember that and I don't know why my drawing wasn't up there. Maybe I had been sick and wasn't there for the art class.
My favorite drawing was of a tree. It showed the texture of the bark and was an unusually close up look at the tree trunk with just one or two branches. The other drawing was of a horse. Again close up with just the profile of the horses head. But I wasn't impressed because I refused to let the subject matter influence my vote.
The votes were split and there was lots of disagreement and loud chatter about which one was number one. Then Miss Personius asked me, "Anna what do you think? Which one do you like best?"
There I sat in the back of the row of desks and then stood up like many of the kids who were too exited to keep their seats. "The tree", I said with conviction. There was silence and then everyone started chattering and debating all over again. We voted again and this time the tree won.
I walked up to the front of the class and stared at the two drawings. There was the horse; beautiful like horses are and there was the tree. I couldn't understand why it looked so different. The bark was represented by short course lines and the outline was so primitive. I was kind of surprised because it looked very realistic from my seat in the back of the room but up close it looked so different. It was not realistic but it was interesting and very black and white.
Miss Personius was one of the best teachers in the world and she knew her class well. It wasn't long before I was getting used to wearing glasses. Now I would see the world differently.
Good article! so happy you started a blog. Good Luck!
ReplyDeleteI remember her.
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