Rubaina Zaman (Col ’09) believes that a painting is never really finished, but she had to put that concept aside while rushing to complete an art assignment last spring.

“When it was time for professor [Richard] Crozier to critique my painting, I was still working on it,” says Zaman, who is majoring in biology and studio art. “The paint was raw and wet, and I had no time to put my signature on it or even name it.”

The impressionistic work eventually got a name—“Garden Alley”—and received top honors in the Alumni Association’s annual Student Art Contest. Zaman, a native of Bangladesh, will receive a $500 scholarship, and her work will hang in Alumni Hall for a year.

Zaman worked from a photograph to produce the oil painting. As the paint has dried, the colors have become darker and more subdued, she says.

“A year from now when I get the painting back, it might be a very different piece from the one I handed over to Professor Crozier at the end of last semester.”