So Many Haybales

As part of my creative practice, I've been painting the same view over and over.   I like different things about each one.   Here are a few of them.   

All are painted on 10 x 14 sheets of Arches 140 lb cold press paper.  

Which are your favorites?

Blue & Orange

© Robin Edmundson, 'Split Roof - blue & orange', watercolor, 10 x 14 inches.   $375, framed to 18 x 22 inches.

A couple of weeks ago I posted some other studies of this barn.   I should probably paint it from a different angle, but I really like this one. 

One of the things I study about painting is how to paint the same thing in different light, seasons and space.  I practice a lot. 

Another of the things I study about painting is color.  I love color!  Luckily, I have a good instinct for this, and all my years dyeing yarn have paid off.   Blue and orange is one of my favorite combinations [but you probably knew that already.]

Anderson's Bales, Bright October Morning

© 2016 Robin Edmundson, 
Anderson's Bales, Bright October Morning
watercolor, 12 x 16 inches

The colors in October are really something here - even in a bad year.   This year on my way to Clay City early one morning a few weeks ago, I rounded a bend to see my favorite hayfield all dewy and with a bright mist over the back end - and the mist was one of those double layer ones.   So pretty!

I'm totally digging purple shadows these days.   Must do more with this palette.  I like how bright and fresh this is.

Colors:  dioxazene violet, Mission burnt sienna, viridian, permanent alizarin crimson, burnt umber, new gamboge.

Clearing the Fencerows

© 2016 Robin Edmundson, Clearing the fencerows, burning the bales, watercolor, 9x12

I've been painting these bales for a while.  Here's a previous version.  I think this one is an improvement.

I like working on this series for a lot of reasons.  They are limited palette studies - this version is Indigo, Raw Umber and Quin Burnt Orange.  The scene is really atmospheric, which is always a challenge.   The bales are quintessentially rural and I love painting rural.   These studies always stop people in their tracks, because ... What's going on here?

That's a good question.   Hay is common, but burning hay?   Not so much.

Bales of hay are often set along fence rows and treelines for convenience.  They're usually at the edges of a hay field and they're easy enough to set, then retrieve for the cows in the next field through the winter.   If they're left more than a year, they start to rot and they're no good for feed, but they make pretty fences.

These bales had been left for years - probably when the property changed hands.   A winter or so ago, the new owner decided to clear the line and combine smaller fields into a larger one with better access.  We came upon a long line of bales smoking in the snow.  It was spectacular to see 50 or so bales smoldering away.   It took a few days for them to burn down completely.

I'll be doing a couple more of these.  They're fun.   Maybe the next one will be a portrait instead of a landscape.

Rural Geometry

This barn is in Owen County, Indiana.    It looks like an old tobacco barn - obviously not big enough for these big round bales.   

I love the geometry of these scenes.   Round bales.  Triangle under the barn roof.  Rectangle and square windows.  Parallelogram rusty metal roof.

Love, love, love.

Winter Hay

There's a lot of moving hay around these days.  These bales are loaded on a trailer for hauling to another farmer's place for his cows.   The gold is nice against that blue sky.

Barn and Round Bales

I love these old barns.

And the round bales.    Be still my heart.
 
This one is way out in Owen County on a dead end road.   A lot of old barns are falling down these days.   It makes me wonder if they were all built at around the same time and have lived their lives and now these grande dames are dying, one by one.

Old Barn

The old barn down the way hasn't weathered the summer very well.   She's showing her age.  I wonder how many more heavy snows she'll be able to support before collapsing and if this will be her last winter.

Mini Bales

Round hay bales are usually about 5 ft high, so we were surprised to see this row of mini-bales  in one field.   

They were all lined up in a neat row looking like they had been done up that way on purpose - and they probably were.  Maybe to be light enough to lift easily by hand.

I giggled, because our big round bales always remind me of shredded wheat.   Now here was a field of mini-wheats. 

Late Summer

There has been enough rain for a second cut of hay this year.   A real blessing after last year.   I love the round bales.

Hay Season

The hay fields are beautiful at sunrise.  I love round bales.

Winter Shed

Many of the old barns and sheds in this area are left unpainted.   They weather a deep brooding grey.   It's gorgeous this time of year when the grey goes blue-ish and contrasts with the coppery fallen leaves.   Click to biggify.  It's prettier big.

Here's the same barn a couple of days later, under the snow. 

What a difference a little snow makes.