Sustainable Soul Food

Just a young sapling, this new year, and already showing signs of hearty growth.  Hearty growth depends on rich soil and rich soil is the soul of a good crop.  Last week, in the first quiet days of January, The Farm got a generous helping of sustainable soul food from a newly forged kindred spirit.  But first, let's mosey back a step or two.

Last autumns final harvest was a painting of a lone woman on a wooden swing.  Beyond her lies a splendorous sweep called Idaho.  At her feet, a majestic spread of valley, rich and verdant, is cradled by a mountain range softly fading to meet the sky.

To be clear, the image just happened to present itself first in a spectacular photograph taken by the son of the woman on the wooden swing.  This art farmer was so taken by the photograph he had no choice but to paint it.  As a consequence, the son-shutter bug was so taken by the painting he had no choice but to offer it as a gift to his mother, the woman on the swing.  Upon receiving the painting, the kind woman was so taken she had no choice but to, in turn, offer nourishment back to The Farm and farmer from where it came...

"You've captured two things in your painting: 1) the actual swing motion & pause in midair, & 2) my total immersion in the action where the air & I are one.  Swinging puts me in a meditative state where creation & I become one. It's the closest I come to flying free of gravity, and you caught that feeling in this painting.  Thank you for that gift."

That kind of nourishment feeds creative fields.  To plow paint out in the fields is one thing, but to tap into one's soul, to capture the essence...well, there just aren't words to describe it.  Thank YOU to the very kind Vickie Marron and her son who captured the moment that started it all, Michael Marron.  These two folks are fine additions to our family of Honorary Art Farmers!