Girl meets artists with found drawing

By John E. Chambers

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

NORTH TOPEKA --- Mariah Baker, 10, didn't realize what she had when she and a fellow worker found the paper face down on the basement floor of her mother's rental house.

She and a friend of her mother's were moving a couple of bicycles in her mother's recently rented house in North Topeka last September. The friend turned over the slightly soiled piece of paper, and brushed away some spider webs. They found it was a print of a pencil drawing. The subject of the drawing was the bust of a Native American man.

Mariah decided to take the picture to show her teacher, Linda Simoneau, and her fifth grade class at Lyman Elementary School when it was studying about Native Americans.

Another fifth grade teacher, Rich McConnell, saw the picture. A signature on the print confirmed his impression that the drawing was the work of his good friend, artist and educator, Steve Denny.

Denny, a gifted facilitator for the Seaman district, has worked for the district for 18 years. But 23 years ago, when he did the drawing as part of a series, he was teaching drawing and painting for Jefferson West USD 340 at Meriden. Denny did a series of pencil drawings of archival pictures of Indians in 1980. The print found in Mariah's basement was of Two Hatchet, whose picture Denny had found in a history book.

After doing the drawings, Denny had sold some numbered prints, and traded some for framing at the Mitre Box, a framing service, and for three months of water color instruction from artist Mike Henry, who has an art studio and also teaches at Cair Paravel Latin school. Henry is represented by Framewoods of Topeka.

After his three months ran out, Denny continued to take instruction with Henry for at least 15 years, and still consults with him.

At the time, those prints were selling for $200 each. Denny didn't know how many of the prints were sold, but there was "a bunch," he said, including those he bartered.

Denny kept some of the prints himself. From those, he picked two prints each of two drawings, which he gave to Mariah to replace her soiled print. They were one each of the Native American man's bust, like the print Mariah had found, and a full length pencil drawing of another Native American man. The extra set of prints was for Mariah to give to anyone she wanted to have them. One candidate appeared to be McConnell, who attended the informal presentation to Mariah.

Although Mariah appeared to appreciate the artistic gifts from Denny, her own specialty in art is architecture and design. She said she has been drawing houses since she was age 8 or 9.

John E. Chambers is a writer and photographer who lives in North Topeka. He can be reached at 234-6773 or by e-mail at jackpot3@swbell.net.

Artist: Who drew portrait now gifted teacher at Seaman district

Please see ARTIST, Page 3

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JOHN CHAMBERS/THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

Mariah Baker, 10, displays the print she found in her mother's basement 23 years after the artist, Steve Denny, left, did the pencil drawing and produced numerous prints. Rich McConnell, right, who teaches at Mariah's, recognized the print as one made by Denny, and helped facilitate the meeting between the artist and student.

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