Artwork Description:
One time living on a hilly Ohio farm and working for the rent, I was out in the middle of a field early one morning. I surveyed the area and suddenly realized that no matter in which direction I looked, I could not see any roads or fences and only a few houses in the far distance. I felt transported back to the 19th century before the area had been populated with people, roads and fences. The experience permanently affected my visual relationship with the world. After that, I realized that if I set my mind and focus right, I could often see beyond the elements erected by our modern life and discover the larger more permanent land forms and foliage. As a result of learning to look with such eyes, when one afternoon my wife Kate and I pulled into a strip mall set on a hillside, by looking straight ahead and editing out the two filling stations in front of us, I saw this scene called Hillside Across the Creek. Immediately, I wanted to paint the scene. We are thankful that the inspiration arose because within a year, the lower part of the scene was replaced with a Walgreen drug store. The painting is topped with Soluvar varnish to protect it and the edges are painted with textured antique gold so that a frame is necessary only if desired.