Saturday, October 31, 2015

Nearby Ranch

Nearby Ranch
plein air oil  9" x 12"
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$295.00 + $10. s/h


I did this painting from just about the same spot as the one in my last post.  I just turned my easel a bit and had a great view of another ranch.  These two ranches were adjacent to the ranch that we were visiting.  As you can see, there wasn't much sun, so there are no strong lights or shadows.  But, nevertheless, any day painting is a great day.  Painting theses ranches allowed me to mix lots of greens!

As I often do when looking for a painting title I use Google.  So, I googled "hay".  I ended up on farm collector.com (which I have to admit I didn't know existed) and learned all of this:

From Farm Collector.com:
Today, petroleum-based  products are essential to farm operations. But for thousands of years, fodder – specifically, hay – was the most critical form of fuel on the farm. Up to the late 18th century, the process of making hay remained essentially unchanged. By the 1850s, though, the impact of the Industrial Revolution on farming equipment history was unmistakable. 
In this article, the first segment of a three-part series on hay equipment (see Part 2 and Part 3), the focus is on mowers. Farmers who still cut hay with sickles or scythes well into the mid-1800s were quick to embrace new technology. One of the most labor-intensive chores a farmer faced, the harvest and storage of hay was hard, hot and dusty work. Mowers were the first step toward making that job less brutal and more productive. 
References to cutting and drying grass for fodder are found as far back as Biblical times. Up to the late 18th century, though, the process of manual mowing remained essentially unchanged. 

A difficult evolution

Robert L. Ardrey compiled the history of companies and inventors who played key roles in the history of American agriculture in his 1894 book American Agricultural Implements. Ardrey acknowledged that early mower inventors had a difficult time moving away from their attempts to imitate the cutting motion involved in the manual harvest of hay.
“It was this natural primitive movement that the first constructors of both reapers and mowers tried to imitate or reproduce in their machines,” Ardrey wrote. “Early American inventors of mowers persistently endeavored to make practically operative this original principle. Indeed, it was many years before the rotary or scythe-curve theory of cutting was abandoned.”
Peter Gaillard, Lancaster, Pa., is credited with conceiving the idea of mowing grass with horse power in 1812. Several crude reaping machines were produced prior to that time in England, but none proved practical enough to come into general use. In his research, Ardrey found that the early interchangeable use of the words “mow” and “reap” had already made it difficult to clearly identify the origin of the earliest mowers.
“As reapers and mowers belong to the same original general class – harvesters – and have so many features in common,” Ardrey wrote, “it is somewhat difficult at times to draw the line between them. In many of the older patents they are described as machines for reaping and mowing, having been designed for both purposes. And in some specifications they are described first as one and then as the other without distinction of purpose. So one cannot always clearly understand to which division of the general class the inventor intended his machine, or to which it really belonged.”
Jeremiah Bailey, Chester County, Pa., patented a mower (or grass-cutting machine) in February 1822. It was supported by two wheels on different axles and was said capable of mowing 10 acres per day. John Wadsworth, Portsmouth, R.I., obtained a patent in 1824 for a horse scythe. A year later, in 1825, Ezra Cope and Thomas Hoopes Jr., both also of Chester County, applied for a patent on a mowing machine similar to Bailey’s. Their machine was more simply constructed and said to be “of better form.”

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Freshly Hayed Fields

Freshly Hayed Fields
plein air oil  9" x 12"
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$295.00 + $10. s/h



In early September my husband and I spent several days on a ranch in Mancos, CO which is near Mesa Verde National Park or the Four Corners area.  It was a bit over cast almost everyday, but still quite green from all the rain we had in Colorado over the summer.  Many of the ranchers were cutting, or had just cut, the hay.  I didn't know much about hay, except that I love painting hay bales. You have a short period where you can cut and bale the hay.  It can't sit too long on the ground.  It's interesting to get a peek at something different than your usual life.

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

A Bit Closer

A Bit Closer
Plein air oil  6" x 6"
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$100.00 + $10. s/h

This is the second piece that I did from the bird observation tower...see my last post.  I had a bit of extra time and this small canvas panel, so focused in and did a close-up of a section of the tidal marsh.

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Tidal Wetlands

Tidal Wetlands
plein air oil  6" x 12"
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$195.00 + $10. s/h


Late this past summer I was in New Jersey visiting my sisters.  My sister, Natalie Italiano, is also a painter, so our visits together always include painting.  This piece is from the tidal wetlands in Brigantine, NJ near Atlantic City.

I had never heard of these wetlands.  I loved the soft look of the grasses contrasted against the water and sky, sometimes blue, gray or pink depending on the weather and time of day.  As I often do when posting on my blog I googled these wetlands.  Here is some of the information:  The Brigantine Bay and marsh complex includes the open water and tidal wetlands of, from north to south: Little Bay, Reed Bay, Somers Bay, Absecon Bay and Channel, Lakes Bay, and Scull Bay between the mainland coast of New Jersey and the barrier islands from Little Egg Inlet southwest to Great Egg Harbor Inlet.  This portion of the New Jersey backbarrier lagoon estuarine system is very significant for migrating and wintering waterfowl, colonial nesting waterbirds, migratory shorebirds, and fisheries.


Below are some photos, from 2 separate days,  from the marsh.  We painted from a bird watching tower so had a great view looking down into the marsh.





Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Hay Barn

Hay Barn
plein air oil  9" x 12"
Off To A New Home!

I was lucky to have spent 6 days in September painting on a ranch in Mancos, CO;  three days the first week of the month and three days the last week of the month.  Mancos is near Mesa Verde National Park, near the Four Corners, about 6 1/2 hours from Colorado Springs.

Living on a ranch must be fun and exciting, but oh so much work!  While we were there the hay had just been bailed and this barn was full of horse hay, which I learned is different than cow hay.  Horse hay has to be covered.  Cow hay can be left out.  Also while we were there a cow died, a cow got out,  sixty cows had to be moved to a different pasture, the ranch dog got hurt, a fence was painted, an electric fence had to be installed, feed had to be picked up 60 miles away.  It's never endless.  My hat (my cowboy hat) goes off to all ranchers and farmers!

Monday, October 12, 2015

Tucked Away Pond

Tucked Away Pond
plein air Oil  9" x 12"
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$195.00 + $10. s/h

This is from this morning's paint out with friends.  We hiked a short way in at Austin Bluffs Open Space to this little pond that was tucked away just off the trail.  The fall weather here in Colorado Springs is gorgeous.  We're having the most beautiful colors!  Way too pretty to be inside!

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Square Shovel


Square Shovel
Oil  8" x 8"
SOLD

This painting sold last summer to a couple here in Colorado Springs.  When they purchased it I asked them if they were gardeners, or buying it as a gift for gardeners.  They told me that they had lost their home in one of the two fires we've had in the last five years and this represented them digging back their lives.  (More than 700 homes were lost in our two fires.)  I love it when I get to meet the client who buys a painting, but this represents so much.  I was humbled.

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Garden Table

Garden Table
plein air Oil  8" x 10"
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$195.00 + $10. s/h

This plein air piece was done this summer at my friend, Suzanne's.  I love painting in her back yard.  She is so gracious.  She bakes muffins, makes lemonade, and sets up little vignettes around her yard and garden of things that she thinks might be fun to paint.  I loved this little tea pot on the bright table.  And she's right;  not only was it fun yo paint, but sitting there for a cup of tea would also be fun!

Monday, October 5, 2015

Getting Ready To Rain

Getting Ready To Rain
Oil  18" x 24"
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This painting was going to be another wild flower piece.  One summer morning I received an email from my friend, Marianne, who lives about an hour east of me.  She wanted to let me know that the plains out east were covered with spectacular wild flowers.  Shortly there after I headed to the eastern plains with every intent of painting fields of flowers.  But, during my drive the clouds started coming in and I knew it would rain shortly.  So, I went with the flow and took photos of the clouds.  They were magnificent in all of their color.  This was a studio piece done soon after and the plein air wild flowers painting was put on hold for another day!

Saturday, October 3, 2015

Abundance Of Wild Flowers

Abundance Of Wild Flowers
plein air oil  10" x 8"
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$195.00 + $10. s/h

This plein air painting is from this summer.  The location was about an hour west of Colorado Springs near Tarryall.  My plein air group went to the mountains to paint the wild flowers.  Earlier this summer we had more rain than normal (normal for Colorado is 15" of moisture per year...not very much!)  I think this year we had about that much in May and June, well, almost.  Anyway, the mountains were filled with wild flower color!