Revisiting Greenlee’s Cover

Written By: Donna Rhodes | Issue: July - 2022

This wonderful iconic cabin (the old Wilson cabin built in 1876) was rendered by Duncan Greenlee, painter, illustrator, cartoonist, and landscape special-ist. It appeared on the cover of the Thanksgiving 2002 issue, the Laurel’sfirst year of publication.When asked about the people in the painting, Duncan replied, “I got permission to have all theLaurel staff dress and pose like they were going to a late 1800s mountain Thanksgiving feast. Marjorie and Janet, with respec-tive husbands, and employees dressed in turn-of-the-century garb carried platters of food, drink, and celebratory dinner accoutrements.” Duncan chose warm fall colors for the natural surroundings and distant ridge. Guests wore primary colors in contrast to the neutrals. While the cabin was vacant as Duncan painted it, he added people, pumpkins, pots, kindling, shadows in the windows, and smoke from the chimney to bring it to life.Imagine no bathroom, no running water, no light switches, no vehicles. The cooking was done largely over a fire, or if lucky, in a woodstove – which required constant stoking and damping. If you think it’s hard to get a turkey properly cooked today, imagine the challenges in 1876.You may know Duncan for any/all of his aforementioned talents. When he’s at the easel, he says, “I paint only four things: people, places, things, and ideas.”I replied, “Duncan, that’s pretty much everything.” We laughed. But this painting is proof of what he claimed: people (his charac-ters), places (an historic cabin and rustic scene), things (objects/implements of the era), and ideas (the essence of a family gathering). As an illustrator, Duncan tells endearing stories with his brush or pen. When he creates illustrations or cartoons, his lines, marks, and spaces must be economical and contribute to the concept. Easier said than done.Study Duncan’s image. In the context of early Highlands, does it match the time frame? Involving all five of your senses, can you experience the paint-ing? Can you smell and taste a corn pudding? Do the colors invite further investigation? Do the shapes, both organic (anything created by Nature) and mechanical (anything created by humans), complement each other? What caught your eye first? I asked Duncan, “Since you do so many different things, are you aware of the common thread that stitches it all together? It all comes from one source, after all. You!”He didn’t have to think long. He answered, “The tie-in is the natural world. I work in the outdoors, I draw things from Mother Nature, I love landscaping. When I die I want to go straight back to the land I love – Highlands. Just sprinkle me over the mountain, and I’ll grow into a tomato, you can call it ‘Duncan.’”Before you savor the last gaze of Duncan’s cover, compare it, from strictly a layout POV, with today’s covers. Note the current use of the border space, the branding, the graphics, the lettering. This reflects Laurel’s 20th year of artistic evolution.

by Donna Rhodes