Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Barn Lady



A funny thing has been happening lately. I have been the recipient of many photos of barns. No less than three different people have recently sent me photographs of barns that they have taken. Surely everyone who knows me, or reads my blog must think of me when they see a barn now. Heh. Clearly I am now the Barn Lady.

Actually I love this. I have hundreds of pictures of barns that I have used for reference but even though I usually see at least one barn wherever I go and always get pictures, I can't be everywhere. And there are an incredible number of barns in communities throughout this country, not to mention the whole world. So I truly appreciate the thoughtfulness of those of you who have taken the time to send me photos. New reference is always good and when it comes through someone else's eye, it's even more fascinating to me.

And to the rest of you - bring it on! I would be very happy to see more barns (or multiple barns) and many of them will surely find their way into a painting. So go ahead and email me jpegs if you like.

The above barn is my great Aunt Minnie's barn in Ohio. Aunt Minnie (sister to my grandmother and to my Aunt Esther, mentioned here) was the best aunt ever, full of life and spirit and endlessly interested in everything that I did. Our yearly visits to her home were a bright highlight in my childhood and her confidence in my abilities was of such value to me. She died almost eight years ago at the age of 95 and I still think of her often. I am not sure if the barn and property is still in her family, but this will always be Aunt Minnie's barn and I am sure it has more than a few stories to tell.

5 comments:

andrea said...

I was about to pint you towards the barn paintings of Ed Maskevich but see that he's on your blogroll. Never mind. Carry on. (And I love the atmospheric feeling of them.)

Kesha Bruce said...

Sometimes when I'm driving through tiny French villages I end up seeing things that remind me of your work. If the weather holds up I'll actually get out of my car and take some photos.

Tracy Helgeson said...

Hi Andrea, yes, Ed and I go way back. Although he's been kind of quiet lately:)

Kesha, wow tiny French villages. That sounds so, well, French! I'd love a few shots, but don't knock yourself out:)

Tina said...

I have a few photos I took of a wonderful huge grey barn that sits in or near Olivebridge, NY (Ulster County.) I guess it is possible you've seen it also if you live in the Catskills area. Right now they're 2.5-3 MB JPEGs in size; what size files would be OK to send you?

RGrantham said...

I'm glad I found this post today when I dropped into to see how you were doing.

I've been meaning to ask you where your love of painting barns stems from.???

and I also read your above post about popularity. I think you've done very well for your self defining your blog presence and who you are as artist, mother and person.

all the best,
Rebecca