When I was a youngster my favorite amusement park was my grandparent's farm north of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. I never got tired of climbing the haystacks, sneaking into the empty silo, and feeding apples to the cows. Sometimes my brothers, uncle and I would see if we could race across the barnyard without being chased by the bull or stepping into cow pies. Exciting times! It never really occurred to me that it was a work place for my grandparents, not just a big playground. We even thought helping to bail the hay was an extra treat!
Needless to say, with memories like these, I'm always attracted to farms as sources for paintings. The painting shown here was not from the Michigan farm. This one was from northern Pennsylvania. Just down the road from my sister-in-law's home.
I did this one as a quick exercise after my main class demonstration was finished. The goal was to paint rapidly on dry paper, one area at a time, with the final hole in the barn, showing the interior rafters, done as a dark glaze on a previous wash.
