Doctor's Wives from the collection of Summit County Public Art

Doctor's Wives, 2013

oil on canvas

7 x 9 in

Location: Summit County Administration Building Second Floor 60 N Main St Coalville, UT 84017 (Google map)

In Dean Vernon's "Doctors' Wives," two Victorian ladies holding baskets of flowers look out over a brilliantly blue impressionistic ocean beneath a cloud-flecked sky. Boats sail in the horizon, and seagulls swoop over the crashing waves. Vernon painted this scene based on a story he knew of two doctors who married sisters. The doctors had a friendly competition and always argued over which of their wives was the prettiest. In the piece, Vernon portrayed the two sisters with their faces turned toward the sea so that the viewer isn't permitted to settle the gentlemen's lifelong debate.

Dean Vernon says art has been an important part of his life since elementary school, when he was inspired by his second grade teacher, Maxine Boyden. In high school, North Summit teacher Taylor Carmichael influenced his creative work, and at B.Y.U. he studied art with Verla Barrell and B.F. Larson. Later in life, Vernon took a four-year correspondence course from the Famous Artists School in Westport, Connecticut which was founded by Norman Rockwell and Albert Dorne.

2013 Council Award