Majestic Skies Over Fruited Plains

After having moved from Pennsylvania to North Carolina in 1987, It became part of my routine to make the trek back to visit family at least once a year. Wintertime drives could be treacherous when a large snowfall could make traveling slow and quite slippery, however making the trek during the summertime was a completely different experience.

Looking out the passenger window through the hills of West Virginia and then Virginia, I was always captivated by the rolling green pastures and the hillsides dotted with farmsteads all along our route. If you were lucky, you could capture the farmer out in the field amongst rows of soybean or tobacco. And of course the livestock was always an interesting site as we occasionally would see bison instead of just the usual cows and horses. I guess growing up in a city, these experiences always made me nostalgic for the isolation and wide open spaces of rural life. What was life like for that family, that wife, those children? Was it peaceful or lonely?

As a crafter for many years and more recently as an oil painter, I have incorporated my new surroundings in North Carolina into my work. I’m fortunate that I can still drive little more than thirty minutes from home and find myself in rural areas where I can still see remnants of life as it was over one hundred years ago.

I wanted to combine a rustic compilation of pieces of Americana into a series that also paid homage to our farms. At a time when our farm families struggle to keep their businesses alive, I think it’s more important than ever to highlight the lifestyle of the families that support our country and our food supply. While there is probably a strong community among rural farming families, I would imagine there is a lot of loneliness in that life as well.

Using pages cut from an old book and maps of the United States, I feel like I was able to incorporate the feeling of history and nostalgia in each piece. Handmade papers added a unique, personalized and additional creative element. Each of the seven collages is different, however each one addresses the freestanding barn or farm as it might appear on a real field and under the large skies above.

“Majestic Skies over Fruited Plains” is made from handmade paper, book pages, map pieces, textured mediums and oil paint. I found it mesmerizing to use pieces of books and maps, cut into simple shapes that later became a roofline or wood planking.

This was the first piece I assembled—cutting, gluing, painting—and it inspired me to complete a six piece series that I called “Finding Your Homestead”. All of the pieces are edged in white, connecting them and adding to the apparent unfinished and rustic element. They are rustic yet convey a modern perspective. Using quality materials and tools (like Fiskars) allow me to achieve a contemporary and clean look. Perhaps titling it as I did might make the viewer feel as though they could picture themselves in that setting.

All of these collages emphasize the wide open spaces and solitary life of farming; That under the beautiful clear skies the farms and barn stand alone. It’s a beautiful but hard life, so important for our survival and worth the spotlight of a creative endeavor.

When you drive along the Appalachians in West Virginia, you see the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance. The fields of crops wave like colored flags with every gust of wind. An incredible sunset over the tilled earth. This is the inspiring scenery I wanted to incorporate and put on canvas for a viewer to enjoy.

You can see this piece, as well as the others, on my website at www.marykamerer.com