Blog

Barnyard Brilliance

Sometimes a barn just grabs hold of me and won't let go. I'd first seen it five years ago, on one of my first forays into the rural landscape of Benzie and Manistee counties. Perched on a small hill around the curve on a designated Road of Natural Scenic Beauty, it was the first of its kind I'd seen. Even though it was painted traditional barn colors, it seemed more like a quonset hut than a barn and I decided it was actually too quirky to paint.

Last year, however, Penny, one of the postal clerks in the Frankfort post office, asked me if I'd ever painted her grandpa's barn. As soon as she described it, I knew she was talking about the barn I'd now passed by many times. Turns out the barn and surrounds were where Penny spent her summers. Every day she and her cousins played in the barn or swung from the branches of the maple in the yard. Now, she explained, her elderly aunt lives in the farmhouse and the barn is disused.

A bit of back story like this really gets my attention. Soon after our conversation, I made a point of visiting the barn again. (Penny had called ahead to tell her aunt an artist might be snooping around.) There are few things I love as much as getting up close and personal with an old homestead and this one was no exception. But I couldn't find an angle from which I might do the scene justice. I was looking for a particular light effect on the barn and I just couldn't see it.

So in the past year I've made at least 6 or 7 trips (15 miles each way) to see how the light might be hitting the side of the barn I envisioned would be most pleasing. No luck. Either it was too close to noon or too late in the day and the barn face was in complete shade. Late this summer, I came close to seeing the sun just where I wanted it to be however, before I could snap a reference photo, clouds moved in. The next time I drove down the battery in my camera died. Finally, a couple of weeks ago, just at the peak of leaf color, I got a notion to try one last time. I knew this was my last shot at a pic before winter and even though I was tired (from painting in the wind on the Frankfort pier), I made the drive again.

This time my determination was rewarded with a stunning splash of light and shadow that would show the barn to best effect. Plus, in the dappled light, I saw how the small road leading to the barn would lend itself to a wonderful composition. And, to frame it all, that dazzling leafy color against those dark branches. My idea of heaven!

I'm posting this image now because later today it's supposed to start snowing and all of this autumnal color will likely seem odd. Plus, I'm off to Vieques to paint for a couple of weeks where I'll likely get smitten with some large palm trees and wonder what I ever saw in that odd old barn. For now, however, I'm content to indulge in celebrating "Barnyard Brilliance." I hope you enjoy it too!

Ellie

P.S. Don't forget to order your 2015 Desk Calendars. Quantities are limited for these great stocking-stuffer items.