Plowed Field,
Near Diablo Range
Robert Winter, 2003 

Acrylic on  Stretched Canvas
24" x 30"

Print:   $550
On Sheet Canvas, Unframed

Framed Original:  Not currently for sale

Artist's Notes

There’s an agricultural area of California near where I-580 splits off from 5 that puts me in mind of some half-remembered Biblical injunction to “go forth, and have dominion.” 

The hand of man is unmistakably present in this area--and in a positive way.  The sun sparkles off the waters of the California Aqueduct, and the once-parched land sprouts lush orchards and fields.  To me, it’s a reminder that we humans don’t have to be just destructive parasites on the Earth;  when we play our proper role, tending it like a garden, we can a be a profoundly positive force.  I find that realization comforting.

In this particular scene, I was struck by how satisfying agriculture can be even when nothing’s growing.  The plowed earth itself is so dark and rich that I really wanted to put my hands in it.  Up as far as the elbows, in fact. 

I wouldn’t have minded if a little of it spilled into my shirt, and I could feel it on my chest.

I could even imagine rolling around in it, like Scrooge McDuck in his money bin.

With the morning light angling off the farm buildings and the still-dewy hills, I found this scene so striking that I had to risk a ticket, pull over onto the shoulder of the freeway, and get it on film.

When the time came to paint it, I stressed the simplicity of the scene in a near-abstract way. 

It was an approach that I later returned to in a number of other paintings.

More Representational/Abstract Hybrids

© COPYRIGHT 2003 ROBERT WINTER.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.