Soul of 78: D.J. Brasfield: Artist/Publications Director

Words by Andrew Brasfield | Images by Ryan McGill and Courtesy Walker College Foundation

You may not know the name D.J. Brasfield, but if you have stepped foot on the Jasper campus of Bevill State Community College, you have seen his artwork. In 1988, D.J., who was also my grandfather, painted each building as it stood on campus. You may have also seen his paintings hanging at Bernard’s, in a lawyer’s office, or in the home of a private collector.

During his tenure as Walker College Publications Director, one of my grandfather’s colleagues, Dr. Betsy Lavanna, joked that the painting of the Rowland Center hanging in her office needed an update. She’d purchased a new car, but her old one was still in the painting. In true D.J. Brasfield fashion, he took the painting off the wall and added the new one. My grandfather loved hiding these “Easter eggs” in his artwork.

There is at least one painting that I believe both of my grandparents worked on together. D.J. loved painting buildings but shied away from painting people. My grandmother, Jean, had studied art in her native England and loved painting people and animals. The painting depicts two students on the lawn in front of Davis Hall and is signed Brasfield ‘78. Most of his other paintings with campus buildings are signed simply, D.J. Brasfield, with the date. My father, Dee J. Brasfield III, agrees with my hunch that both of my grandparents had a hand in this painting. My grandmother painted the students in the foreground, while my grandfather painted Davis Hall and the surrounding landscape. This painting was originally on display at the Daily Mountain Eagle office but now hangs in the offices of the Walker College Foundation.

I am blessed that my grandparents lived next door to me. Most afternoons I walked over to their house to finish my homework. My grandfather would come home from working at the newspaper or college and disappear into his studio. There were always plenty of art supplies: tubes of paint, palettes, pads of cold pressed watercolor paper, and works of art in various states of being finished.

Although my family didn’t inherit my grandfather’s talent for painting, my father did become a photographer, and I work at Bevill State Community College in the same department as my grandfather. I realize that, through my job as Multimedia Coordinator, capturing images has always been in my blood. 78