Often I walk quietly along the farm field immersed in the quiet rhythms of nature. During the summer of 2024 there was a corn crop stretching for acres in straight rows across the field to the woodlots in the distance. I was keen to observe the season of corn in the field through to harvest.
Shortly after it was put in the ground I began watching the field everyday witnessing subtle changes over time. I was surprised how quickly the corn seeds stretched up to the sky and the sight lines of the field changed. It was during this time I developed a great fondness for the field. Over time the corn grew as tall as me and I could no longer look beyond the corn at the woodlots, I began looking through it.
One of my favourite past times became peering through the brown tassels as they waved about in the wind. I could see the vibrant blue summer sky through the bright green corn stalks, the luminous summer colour delighted my eyes. It is these enchanting experiences that remain vivid in my memory that I captured in the painting ‘Peering Through The Field’.
An Artist’s Note
Several years ago I began to work on the idea of peering through natural forms in the landscape to view colours in the distance. At the time I was painting garden paintings where the garden was my subject and my paintings were exploring the relationship of colours.
The idea apparently had not left my mind although I didn’t know it at the time until my subconscious kicked into gear. I had in recent weeks been observing a garden painting reflecting on the idea of peering through paintings, ‘Coneflower No 33’ (2022) hangs in our eating area of our farmhouse kitchen.
While I was problem solving how to move forward with this painting it all came to me. I used some various techniques I had developed at the time of garden paintings but had not pushed the idea fully through, to make it to the other side of the problem with Peering Through The Field. I am quite intrigued by concept of peering through and look forward to my next opportunity to use it in a painting.
Jane Holden Art 