The 80-year-old with an impish grin and sparkling blue eyes sitting on the porch of the red house in Como (one of four she owns with husband, Carle) where she stays when not at her home in Littleton, might not be recognizable as a prolific, award winning watercolorist who has been painting for 60 years.
It is rita derjue (DER zhoo, lower case spelling intentional by the artist) whose work dates over 60 years and hangs in five museums. She has also been featured in more than 100 group shows; has painted in 25 different countries; taught water color painting and has had 50 solo exhibits.
Why the lower case? While a student at the Rhode Island School of Design, derjue took a class in calligraphy where she had to design a monogram. After several experiments she came up with an “r d” that pleased her and she has used it professionally since.
“If it was good enough for ee cummings, it was good enough for me,” she said.
