Hands and the Farmer, Hands and the Artist
October 13, 2015
Gordon Skagit Farms — a bountiful harvest
“As Gill says, “every man is called to give love to the work of his hands. Every man is called to be an artist.” The small family farm is one of the last places – they are getting rarer every day – where men and women (and girls and boys, too) can answer that call to be an artist, to learn to give love to the work of their hands. It is one of the last places where the maker – and some farmers still do talk about “making the crops” – is responsible, from start to finish, for the thing made. This certainly is a spiritual value, but it is not for that reason an impractical or uneconomic one. In fact, from the exercise of this responsibility, this giving of love to the work of the hands, the farmer, the farm, the consumer, and the nation all stand to gain in the most practical ways: They gain the means of life, the goodness of food, and the longevity and dependability of the sources of food, both natural and cultural. The proper answer to the spiritual calling becomes, in turn, the proper fulfillment of physical need.”
― Wendell Berry, Bringing it to the Table: Writings on Farming and Food
Gordon Skagit Farms does a great job marrying farming and art. A visit there is a visual feast.
Pen and ink sketches of squashes and pumpkins
Pumpkin Painter and Farmer: Eddie Gordon
October 12, 2015
Welcome sign, Gordon Skagit Farms
Each October I look forward to seeing Eddie Gordon’s new paintings on display at Gordon Skagit Farms. This year’s outdoor gallery was as amazing as always. I particularly liked the painting of the pumpkin included like a land form into the Pacific NW landscape, creating a feeling of whimsy. This year’s bountiful squash and pumpkin harvest was matched by a prolific year of painting.
A Return to Jello Mold Farm on a Foggy, Fall Day
October 12, 2014
Jello molds with spider web
While I was in the Skagit Valley, I took a quick side trip to walk the flower fields at Jello Mold Farm. It was a foggy morning, so instead of photographing in the morning light, I worked under white/gray skies. But there was a surprising amount of color in the fields this time of year, especially in the dahlia beds. Our warm weather has extended the growing season. Here are a few photos from my fall visit:
Dahlia
Monk’s hood with spider web
Painting Day at the Gordon Skagit Farm
October 11, 2014
En plein air painting and sketching at the Gordon Skagit Farm
Several of my women friends, old and new, met for a day of painting outdoors at the Gordon Skagit Farm. There was no shortage of vegetable models and colorful views to inspire our art making. And we fit right in with the celebratory spirit of art in the country, surrounded as we were by Eddie Gordon’s paintings.
Painting has been largely a solitary pursuit for me, and I have come to love these informal meet-ups to paint with kindred souls. Several of these women meet regularly and take classes together. Someday when I’m retired I hope to be just like them!
Bonnie’s sketchbook
The painters were a magnet for curious kids
Nancy’s pumpkins
Judy at work
Maryam’s pumpkins
Libby at work
The inspiration for my first watercolor painting
My watercolor sketch of the vintage International Harvester truck
Inspiration for my second watercolor sketch
My watercolor sketch of turban squashes
My Annual Daytrip to Gordon Skagit Farm
October 9, 2014
Autumn displays at Gordon Skagit Farm
It has now become something of an annual tradition, this daytrip to Mount Vernon’s Gordon Skagit Farm. (You can see my posts from previous visits here and here and here and here.) It has become my favorite way to celebrate autumn. Each year Eddie Gordon displays his new work — large paintings showcased outdoors on the farm. This year’s paintings included several magnificent mountain landscapes. One barn features haunting scenes on darkened stage sets. Bins of pumpkins and squashes and gourds are filled to overflowing. I didn’t even visit the corn maze or U-pick apple orchard this year. I love this place!
As usual, I took far too many photos to show in one blog post, so I will string them out. Tomorrow’s post will be an online gallery of Eddie Gordon’s paintings. And Saturday’s post will feature the paintings and sketches some of my women friends made on site, inspired by Eddie’s artistic offerings. So stay tuned.
Entrance sign to the Gordon Skagit Farm
It was a foggy morning in the Skagit Valley
Bin of turban squashes
Woodland gown made from natural materials
More high fashion near the barn
Vintage International Harvester truck, decorated with pumpkins
Bottle gourds
Staged in the haunted barn
Spooky scene
Indian corn
Thanks for this recipe!
Kids visiting the farm
Jello Mold Farm in October
October 13, 2013
Sign on van, Jello Mold Farm
Harvesting some late dahlias, Jello Mold Farm
On my recent trip to the Skagit Valley, I stopped in at Jello Mold Farm to see what was happening in the flower beds. Not surprisingly, they were harvesting decorative pumpkins and gourds, but their dahlias were still blooming, too (in great numbers).
Pink dahlias
I love the fall color palette with its golden yellows and rich, jewel-like purples and reds.
Shoo Fly, a.k.a. Nicandra physalodes
Rudbeckia hirta ‘Chim Chiminee’
The ‘Queen Lime’ zinnias are still some of my favorites.
And I like to see what other unusual floral fixings catch my eye.
Monkshood, aconitum sp.
The compost heaps grow large at the end of the peak growing season, an emblem of these plants’ life cycles and regeneration.
