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Mary Susan Vaughn, Fine Artist
Always the creative spirit, Susan was born with a paintbrush in hand and an enthusiasm for color and fine art. At home as a child, nothing was finer than a brand new box of 64 Crayola Crayons, a blank pad of paper, colorful construction paper, and elmer's glue. That was matched only by a paintbrush and a yellow box of watercolor paints. Her art hung on refrigerators and walls from elementary school classrooms, to neighbors, family, and friends. She had one elderly neighbor, a Mrs. Johnson, who lived alone and would give Susan a Mary Jane candy for every piece of artwork she would bring over to her. Susan stocked up on Mary Janes and Mrs. Johnson stocked up on Susan's artwork.
In 1st grade in Silver Spring, Maryland, Susan had an art teacher that sparked her interest in being an artist - her name was Mrs. Nye. Her classroom was covered with poster prints of Van Gogh, Degas, Renoir, and Monet paintings. Each class was a different lesson about the Masters and how they created such beautiful paintings. Susan recalls one class when Mrs. Nye placed a master painting copy in front of each student and asked them to copy it. With watercolor paints at hand, Susan created Van Gogh's Starry Night putting the swirls of color in her sky. That was all it took for her, at age 6, to value fine art, respect the masters, and hope that someday she would create her own wonderful works of art.
