It was well over 10 years ago when I was doing on a spontaneous road trip in Pennsylvania and saw ‘my first Amish’ horse-drawn carts. It was like entering a time machine. Amish people do not mind being photographed, as long their faces are not a prominent part of the picture. So I shot a lot of images there and then and began to be on the look-out for more interesting scenes. And then, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a large field being ploughed by a young boy, with four sturdy Percheron horses. This was in the dead of fall, with beautifully coloured trees surrounding the field. The boy was not close to the side of the road and I did not have my big close-up lens with me. But I was able to get quite a few shots in and committed them to memory.
Fast forward to 2016 when I first tried my hand at acrylic paints. It was quite a learning curve for a self-taught artist who used to work predominantly in black and white and sometimes in pastels and watercolours. It took another 8 years before the Amish scene came to mind, and I felt the confidence to generate a painting of this scene.
Sometimes people ask how long a painting takes, especially when it is intricate like this one. It is a hard question. And my answer is: much longer than you may think. Because certain scenes take years to develop in one’s mind. Not even thinking about it at first as a subject for a painting. But just remembering what it was like. And then, at some point, the idea starts to grow of making it into a painting.
As with most bigger work, it requires research. I have books that show comparative anatomy between humans and all sorts of animals. I have books by other artists that feature horses in a certain way. And that all mixes into my own style, in my mind, without me even reaching for a single tube of paint or a brush.
The final result you see on the wall today, was a big project that began to take shape in the summer of 2023. It took several months of intermittent painting to become what it is today. I used pallet knife techniques for the field of corn stacks, soft paints for the fall colours in the background and tiny brushes for some of the details on the horses and the face of the boy. Yet, I made an effort not to be too detailed. A lot is left to your imagination, as the person who views this work. Often I would have one painting session and then let the paints cure for several days before continuing with the next layer. These projects are works of love, inspiration and commitment. And most of all a sense of accomplishment and joy, when it is finally framed and hung on the wall. I hope you enjoy it. I certainly did while creating it.
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