The Barns & Farms show ended on August 5th. I sold one of the paintings and just picked up the other today. I went to the opening of the show last July 7th. The barn photo is of the Barnsite Studio and Gallery. The other two photos were taken after the opening show -- about 8 PM when the sun had set. Today the field on the right of the road is full of sunflowers. Oddly enough, as I looked at the show I found someone that I had not seen since art school -- dare I say, 30 years ago! That was fun; being in the show was fun; selling a painting for more than I ever had before was even more fun. Today, August 6th, I drove to Kewaunee, met with the gallery owner, put the painting in the car and then headed north to Algoma where I gassed up and then drove around, taking a few pictures of the harbor and eventually pulling over to find a place to paint. I took my little portable watercolor rig to the shore of Lake Michigan and painted a 8 X 10 watercolor. I had to navigate a rocky path to the shore and would have had a hard time with my French easel. I was happy with my little painting and then drove south back home. I really love those barns and farms in Wisconsin, so the four hour drive was a nice trip. I will be trying for that show again next year.
2 comments:
It is interesting to drive through farm country and note the changes in farming techniques in just a few decades. Corn is now planted closer together, yielding nearly double the number of plants per acre than 20 years ago, giving a more lush look, and even changing the color of the fields as less light gets in. Herbicides have eliminated many of the prairie plants that would grown along fencerows. Also, fields and farms are much large, eliminating the fencerows all together, leading to fewer volunteer trees growing in the interior of the sections and fewer farm sites. Our section had 6 building sites when I was growing up, three remain.
The last barn built in my home county was in 1974, and the old ones are falling fast. There is not much funding for rural architecture preservation.
I should have been a farmer in Oregon (but that's a long story I won't get into now) instead of a city kid, but even I can see how close the corn rows are --- they are obviously not following the planting instructions on the seed package!!I guess it's up to artists and photographers to preserve those barns before they fall. Thanks, Lynn.
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