How the Love of Art Forged an Unlikely Connection

I began teaching art in 2017. Having formerly been only a teacher of history, adding this certification certainly made my work schedule more interesting. I have learned a lot along the way and it has also sharpened my artistic pursuits.

There are many reasons why I developed an appreciation for art but one that stands out is the fact that my father used to be a practicing watercolor artist. His art career was really taking off when he was in his early 20s and he won many competitions in the Southeast. I can still remember him teaching me how to paint an apple in watercolor when I was 8 years old. I see that as a turning point in my life—the moment I took an interest in art.

A newspaper article from 1974 discusses my dad’s decision to become an artist.

In the fall of 2020, a new art teacher was hired at Fairhope High School. She wasn’t born here on the Gulf Coast. Rather, she was from Birmingham, Alabama. Sarah Bell and I immediately became friends and bonded over our love for teaching and creating art. Occasionally, she discussed her father’s life work as a practicing artist. He has served as a great source of inspiration for her own career.

This topic came up on and off for months, often discussed in the four minutes between classes as we stood in the hallways greeting students. One day, I asked her to show me some of her father’s work. I was shocked to see how the style of some of it very much looked like my father’s own work. In fact, both of their work from the 1970s, seemed to take some inspiration from the artist, Andrew Wyeth.

Donny Finley, In the Dusk, 1974.

Benny Brooks, Untitled, 1981.

It hit me, our fathers very likely traveled in the same art circles in the 1970s-early 1980s. I called my dad and asked, “hey, did you know an artist named Donny Finley back when you used to compete in art shows?”

His immediate response was, “Donny! Yes, I remember him! Why do you ask that?”

I told him that his daughter was now an art teacher at Fairhope High School, like me. He expressed his delight at the serendipity of the situation.

He then reminisced, “Donny is a few years older than me and I remember one time, when I was 14, I had to get Donny to give me a ride to one of the art shows. I always admired his work. We were both friends and competitors in those shows.”

“You know, the painting that hangs in our dining room is a Donny Finley original.” I recalled looking at this painting many times growing up.

Donny Finley, Untitled, 1979. This is the painting that hangs in the home of my parents.

By the 1980s, the intwined paths of Donny Finley and Benny Brooks ended. Donny continued his artistic pursuits and went on to become a well known artist. You can see some of his work here on his website. On the other hand, Benny went to law school and eventually got into politics.

I was always struck with my father’s analytical mindset that doesn’t at all fit the artist stereotype. Since he became a lawyer in the mid-1980s, he has rarely had time to practice his art. I personally hope that once he retires, he can return to this craft from his youth.

Sarah Bell is an amazing coworker and such a good friend. This realization that our fathers’ love of art led us both to becoming art teachers and somehow teach at the same high school is pretty cool. We both hope our own artistic creations support us one day. So, maybe all of this is fate?

Here, I stand with Sarah Bell and Kristy McClay at a gallery exhibition in New York City.