When Denise Wash decided to go back to school to study web design, she never expected it would lead her to become a published author.

Yet sure enough, this summer, Wash produced her first coffee table book “Jeff Koons,” chronicling the life and career of the American artist, via an online independent study with Art Associate Professor Dianne Zotter-Mill at Montgomery County Community College.

Having spent her career running the business side of corporate marketing departments, Wash, 57, of Merion Station, Pa., decided she wanted to go back to school and try her hand at something more creative.

“I’ve always been in awe of creative people who’ve worked around me and whose work I had to evaluate,” she said. “My initial intention was to go into web development. I started taking a required course in design and from there my interest in graphic design simply grew.”

She began taking classes at MCCC in the fall of 2018 as a Web Development and Design major and initially was only supposed to take two graphic design classes. In Zotter-Mill’s classes, however, Wash always excelled and seemed to finish her work quickly. Zotter-Mill suggested she continue taking graphic design classes, which ultimately led to the book.

“She sensed I was looking for something to do for the summer,” said Wash. “She thought this would be a good project for me. It was something I could handle and would still be a challenge. It was a crazy summer with COVID-19, and we didn’t know how it would go. But it ended up being the perfect project to work on.”

“In my previous life as professional graphic designer I had been in book design,” said Zotter-Mill. “I eat this up and it’s something I totally enjoy. We had a blast making the book.”

Wash chose Koons as the subject to write about because she had always been an admirer of his work and wanted to learn more about him.

“I found him to be fascinating,” she said. “He doesn’t work in a particular medium. He works in all media. Plus, he’s done some awesome collaborations from Lady Gaga to a CRT scan in a hospital. He’s all over the place and up for any challenge.”

Wash’s book covers the major influences on Koons’ career, including the work of such artists like Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali. It also highlights Koons’ work including his inflatables, balloon animal series, topiary sculptures and pop culture-inspired pieces including the “Popeye” and “Hulk Elvis” series.

“As I started researching him, the more interesting Koons became. I always loved his horticultural projects, and his Celebration series. I had no idea they were both created by the same artist,” said Wash. “I was also impressed with Koons’ skill as a marketer. For someone who had a long career in marketing, I found his ability to promote and sell his brand to be unusual, inspiring and worth emulating.”

Wash was in charge of all aspects of the book. She handled all of the research involved, wrote all of the copy and designed the layout for every page. Zotter-Mill worked closely with Wash to help her think about crafting each page differently.

“How do you want me to view this book?” Zotter-Mill would ask. “I don’t want to get stuck looking at the same spread or looking at the same layout. It should be a new experience every time I turn a page in a book. If it’s not, then I’ll become bored.”

The duo began working on the book during the third week of June and the book was finished the first week of September.

“It was a really collaborative experience,” said Zotter-Mill. “Her taking charge and me hopefully leading her down the path of good book design.”

“Dianne deserves a halo over her head,” said Wash. “We sometimes would work together on Zoom for three hours at a time. It’s a 56-page book. She put in a lot of time helping me. She went above and beyond what I would expect a professor might do.”

For now, Wash said she’s unsure what she’s planning to do now that the project is finished. She’s more of a fan of the artistic side of web design than the coding aspect of it, yet she’s not sure if she will switch her major to graphic design. For now she’s keeping all options on the table.

“I am hoping I can use the book and my other projects as a portfolio to get into a master’s program or to get work as a freelance graphic designer.” she said.

While she figures out her next moves, Wash said she’s focused on enjoying the finished product. The book is currently available to download for free. She’s also ordering printed copies for friends and family members to own.

The experience was one Wash said she’ll never forget and credits Zotter-Mill for making it fun and creatively inspiring.

“I really did enjoy doing the book,” she said. “Anyone who has the opportunity to do a project like this with Dianne should take it. It was awesome.”

Likewise, Zotter-Mill was proud of her star student.

“This was one of the first projects of the COVID-19 world. It was phenomenal. Never once seeing each other yet we were able to pull this off,” she said. “I was pretty pleased with that. Denise stayed with it. She never dropped it. Now she has a terrific digital version and is getting it printed. I can’t wait to hold, see and feel it and put it on my coffee table. The experience was phenomenal.

“I’m really happy for her. It was a great experience for both of us and also a great experience for the College to provide her the opportunity to do an independent study. It worked out fabulously.”