| I grew up on a small
farm in north central Wisconsin. It was a great experience for a
"potential" artist. I was around farm animals and the equipment needed
to plow the ground, plant the seeds and harvest the crop. I observed
the people of the farming community, going about their chores, and their
comraderie at a quilting bee or barn raising.
"I drew and painted animals from
dogs and cats to cows and horses."
With these images locked in my memory, one
might expect they would become subjects for my art. We raised
sheep, pigs and chickens, future fodder for my fertile mind. I drew and
painted animals from dogs and cats to cows and horses. My mom hung
freshly washed laundry on the outdoor clothesline. She pumped water
from the well. Together we made a vegetable garden and tended it,
harvested, and canned the fruits of the season. Again, more ideas
to paint.
When I became a professional artist, the subject
I chose was the ocean. Though I built my career on the sea in all
its many moods, I never got tired of observing the farms and fields I drove
passed
on my way to the coast. As I saw the farms, fields
and old buildings on acres and acres of wheat, grass, corn or pasture,
the lure of the land digged deeply into my
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subconscious. When, a few years ago I
discovered pastel and gouache, I made a decision to paint these images
that I had long stored and felt so passionately about. So I painted
the land. I painted the grand sky. I studied the barns and
sheds and fences of the West, as I had done the upper Mid-west. I
put the scenes onto paper. My excitement grew as my research grew.
I have painted roosters, sheep, and piglets. Wild creatures and domestic
animals have now become part of my painting routine.
I call this Americana. I hold a reverence
for the people who pioneered the land and built the towns and cities and
farms and ranches that make America what it is today.
"A barn that warmly housed the hard
working family horse"
I like to find the symbols of this dedication.
A tumbling down gas station along the old state highway; a barn that
warmly housed the hard working family horse; trucks and tractors
that have seen better days, and the animals linking past to present.
Maybe it is my way to take that walk down memory lane. When I paint
an Americana scene, I am transported in my mind back to the days of my
youth. Perhaps by seeing these paintings, your memory is pleasantly
stimulated too.
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