Rauls best days were behind him, though his soul still burned for the art, his body was beginning to fail him. For nearly fifty years he ruled the art world, he set the standard from which everyone else was judged. In recent years, he had to slow down; arthritis prevented him from spending the hours at the canvas each day he needed to complete his work. Though curtailed at the canvas, Raul found ways to fire his passion.
Over the last decade, several of Rauls assistants took his vision to the forefront and Raul loved seeing them grow, he loved seeing them expand his art and he loved seeing them develop their own voice in their art. Raul understood the natural progression, so when he could no longer bear the hours at a canvas, he turned to teaching.
The local university was small, and badly under funded, so they leaped at the opportunity to add Raul to their Art Department. With his reputation and a little support from the administration the universitys art school became the premier program in their small country. Several of Rauls former assistants had joined him there teaching, and Raul assumed the role of master.
While his position at the university put him in contact with some of the best artists in the continent, he spent his most joyous moments teaching a first year class, a basic introduction to painting. It was here he could touch and inspire the most open minds. They were so pure and pristine, free of most preconceptions that burdened his most advanced students.
Raul held class in a small studio in the basement of the old biology building. After the biology department shut down in the early 1990s, the building stood vacant. The basement, which held mostly laboratory space, provided an excellent location for a studio. The space had no ceilings; it was open to the concrete structure above it. To be able to house all the lab equipment and fume hoods, the open space was nearly two stories tall. The building was situated along the river bank, so alth... Læs hele novellen
