Trophy Chase

Trophy Case
painting by Jane McElvany Coonce

When you do a painting for your first 2 sons, then of course, you have to do a painting for the third one.  My youngest son, Brian, has been a diver all of his life.  He started when he was in elementary school at the Donaldson Run pool, dove in high school at Yorktown, and dove for the Division 1 team at the University of Delaware in college.

What do you do with all these trophies and ribbons?  Eventually, you throw them out, but I decided to memorize them in a trompe l'oeil painting.  This painting was done in 2009 when he graduated from high school, so he has many more ribbons and trophies then what's shown.

Brian went on to become head diving coach at the University of Delaware and won Coach of the Year for the Mid Atlantic states for both men and women.  Quite an honor. He now teaches 3rd grade for Arlington County Schools, and he has his own dive club, Capital Dive Club.  He also owns a trompe l'oeil painting by his mom.