Nevertheless, the doggone thing got into my blood, deeply rooted after all the years, all the work, all the growing-up memories. It was inevitable that the farm came to mind when contemplating subjects for my new painting hobby. I didn't have that subject in mind when I started the painting, however, was just winging it. It started with the sky background; that looked okay so decided to add a grain field at the bottom and that looked okay, too. It was at that point that I decided to do the farm buildings.
The panacea of would-be artists is the phrase 'artistic license'. Flaws? Screw-ups? Paint-overs? Uh-uh: artistic license. When asked about a particular detail in a painting, that detail being somehow out of place or not quite right, the painter calmly responds 'artistic license', sighs deeply and gazes off into the distance with a slightly disdainful look. I need to practice that, expect I'll use it a lot.
Wing-its are great. Picky little details are not. The house was a picky little detail. Wouldn't have been so bad if I'd made it larger, another lesson learned. Not foreseeing the problem, I made the house a mere 2" high on the 11" x 14" canvas. Trying to paint in the many details (windows, doors, roof lines, etc) on a 2" square surface was a pain in the arse. I couldn't fall back on the artistic license excuse because I wanted the relatives to recognize it. Jury's still out on that.
The Farm, circa 1950
The farm has long since been busted up into 5-acre 'mini estates' and christened Lakeview Estates or some such grandiose handle. In your dreams: a smidgen of Marion Lake is visible from the few 'estates' on higher ground but that's it. The house is still there; the barn collapsed years ago.
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