Country Values

When I was young, the most successful and influential American illustrator was Norman Rockwell. Millions grew up with his Saturday Evening Post artwork shaping their intellectual and emotional views of what it meant to be an American, in a career spanning the Great Depression, World War Two, the Cold War, and the Civil Rights movement.

Influenced by his famous WW2 series, The Four Freedoms, I wanted to remind the public of the time when Americans were honored for feeding the world, assinging to each works a value such as "Commerce", "Preparedness", "Cooperative Work", "Honor System". As a descendant of farmers and ranchers as well as kings and emperors, my art celebrates both the strength of humble country values and the romance of chivalry and castles, with works designed to compare the nobility of farmers and ranchers with the vulnerability of power and royalty. Few realize that the first waves of settlers in British North America were disproportionately the younger sons of noble houses who had no land inheritance. I believe this genetic makeup contributes to the success of the American nation and to our attitude of service to the rest of the world. It's infuriating when I hear coastal elites call rural America "flyover country", and the people "rubes," "hicks", or a "basket of deplorables".

MEDIA coverage of the 2022 "Country Values" museum exhibition.
VIDEO of the 2022 "Country Values" museum exhibition.

"Flowering Dogwoods"
2021, 16" x 20", Acrylic on canvas

West Kentucky is a one of America's garden spots in springtime, with flowing trees dominating the town and landscape. I was captivated by this flowering dogwood tree in a neighbor's front yard on a small-town street, and tried to capture the impression of the sun emerging after a brief spring rain.

Original SOLD
Numbered Edition of 100: $200.
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"Camouflage"
2022, 16" x 24", Acrylic on canvas.

John Deere's signature colors supposedly came from the trademark logo they introduced in 1936, but you can't deny it makes the hardware easier to camouflage in a field of sunflowers or soybeans!

Original: $1,000.
Numbered Edition of 100: $200.
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"Commerce"
2021, 16" x 20", Acrylic on Canvas

A memory of a time when picking up your mail and a few supplies could be an hours-long, relaxed social event, and a testimony to historical preservation and respect for the past. The tiny crossroads of Iron Hill sits about 9 miles east of Marion, Crittenden County, Kentucky. When Joseph Dean became postmaster in 1874, he built a new post office and general store. This building replaced it in 1910, and the community was re-named Deanwood in the family’s honor. Although it has not been a working store or post office for decades, the land’s new owner maintains it including the paint job as a link to the region’s history.
I lived in Marion for a decade, and was so intrigued passing by the store that I sought out its history, which I share with you here.

Original: $1,000.
Numbered Edition of 100: $200.
Unlimited Edition: From $24. [Buy Now]

"Cooperative Work"
2022, 16" x 20", Acrylic on canvas.

I have lived among the Amish several times in my life, totaling 15 years of interaction. They still have the practical tradition of raising a barn in one day and finishing before dark. The owners provide materials and meals, the community provides labor. This sets up and obligation for the owners to help with the next barn raising. At one time this was common in both Amish and non-Amish communities, but the sense of Zusammenarbeit (cooperative work) among the “English” has faded. One of the greatest praises an Amishman can speak of an “English” is “Er is en faehicher schreiner” (He is an able carpenter), or “Sie scheie nicht sich vun haddiarewat.” (They don’t shy away from hard work). There's a cliché of depicting Amish subject matter in broad, flat areas reflecting the "Plain People". I went instead for a very busy sky, creating a sense of urgency - is a storm coming?

Original: TBA
Numbered Edition of 100: $200.
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"Patrick Petersheim"
2021, 16" x 20", Acrylic on canvas.

After art school, I spent two summers working for a carriage maker in Lancaster County, PA, re-training race horses for the street. My boss had the habit of giving each horse he bought the surname of the previous owner, so he knew who to ask if a health problem developed. Patrick was a young American Standardbred who behaved like a puppy, always nuzzling and chasing after me in the pasture. You never forget a horse like that!

Original: $1,000.
Numbered Edition of 100: $200.
Unlimited Edition: From $24. [Buy Now]

"Dreams of Dancing Stars"
2022, 16" x 20", Acrylic on canvas.

The exceptional horse can make you feel like you are traveling in zero-G spaceflight between the stars! One of my teachers said that a horse's heart sends out a horizontal energy field almost to the horizon that can be seen by those "with eyes to see". I've tried to capture that here. Horses reach out to connect with their herd members and to be alert for predators, and they will gradually accept certain humans as pack members. We live in a wondrous world!

Original: $1,000.
Numbered Edition of 100: $200.
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"Drowning In The Amber Waves"
2021, 24" x 36", Acrylic on canvas, gold flakes on original

Both of my grandfathers were farm boys, younger sons who were forced to leave home and find new careers when the family farms could no longer sustain them. Over the July 4 Independence Day holiday, I heard the lyric “For amber waves of grain” and wondered how many American farm families are drowning in debt in those amber waves. The painting features the hand of a farmer “going down for the third time”, surrounded by the barely-perceptible ghosts of those who have already fallen and by the demons of debt, drought, and crop blight. The traditional family farm that fed America and the world is becoming obsolete as corporations and foreign interests buy up the land and introduce factory farming methods. While your price at the supermarket have been going up, family farm incomes have been flat for decades while costs increase. Fewer of the next generation want that 14 hour workday lifestyle, and they are likely to sell the farm they inherit. The sun still perceptible through the clouds is a symbol of hope. The crop is intentionally vague - Wheat? Barley? Rye? Corn? - recall the Parables of the Wheat and Tares. The cornfield adjoining my home was the inspiration. The hillock at right is a reference to the one that appears in several of Van Gogh's works. The greatest compliment received so far is from a local farmer who left to become a clergyman. He said the painting captured the way he felt "every day for five years". We live in a tornado zone, and a single storm can wipe out an entire year's crop. Psalm 90 captures the underlying despair and frustration of American family farms: "Save me, O god! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is dry; my eyes fail while I wait for my God."

Original: $2,600.
Numbered Edition of 100: $250.
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"Storm Before Harvest"
2022, 24" x 36", Acrylic on canvas, gold flakes on original.

Your crop is in the field, almost ready for harvest. A severe storm can instantly destroy your year's work, leaving no crop for market. This is reality for farmers. Inspired by a photo by former local farmer Joel Vancil, who left farming to go into ministry. Both careers involve a lot of prayer!

Original: $2,000.
Numbered Edition of 100: $250.
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"Preparedness"
16" x 20", Acrylic on canvas.

As winter approaches, country people begin gathering and stacking firewood. Whatever warmth we can coax from a fireplace reduces the heating bill from other fuels and lets us stay warm in the event of a power outage or supply line interruption. There can always be an early freeze, so advance preparation is key, just as it is with crops and livestock. I was intrigued by the interplay of surface planes in a stack of cut wood and exaggerated this until they became more pronounced by facets on a gemstone. When a polar vortex hits, a stack of seasoned firewood seems worth a pile of jewels.

Original: $900
Numbered Edition of 100: $200.
Unlimited Edition: From $24. [Buy Now]

"Honor System"
2021, 18" x 24", Acrylic on canvas.

In a small Southern town, a matriarch puts out tables of produce in front of her house each fall. The prices are marked, and a birdhouse bears a sign, PAY HERE. Who else remembers a time when a vendor could leave the merchandise AND the cashbox unattended all day, and not worry that either would be stolen? I certainly do!

Original: $1,200.
Numbered Edition of 100: $200.
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"Housing Starts"
16" x 24", Acrylic on canvas.

As a journalist, I was always intrigued by the term "housing starts" as it occurred in economic reports and wondered why it wasn't the completed houses that were counted. I learned that starting a new house was a sign of economic optimism. When living in Crittenden County, Kentucky as part of an effort to create a living history village including various types of historical housing, The log cabin representing 18th century Cherokee housing was started but left unfinished as funding dried up. Even so, it reflected the deep sense of self-reliant industry of country people. I hope this work inspires the viewer to persevere and create structure and value in their own world.

Original: $900.
Numbered Edition of 100: $200.
Unlimited Edition: From $24. [Buy Now]

"All Hail Queen Beetrix XXVII"
2022, 14" x 20", Acrylic on canvas.

Some beekeepers glue a tiny, numbered metal disk to the back of each hive's queen to make her easier to find. I learned about this when a swarm of honeybees penetrated the wall of our house, and we called a beekeeper to remove and re-home them. A few hundred got into my office and tried to get out again through a glass window. Although I was working just a few feet away from them, they made no aggressive move toward me. So many don't realize how much we depend on honeybees to pollinate our food crops. Country people do.

Original: $800.
Numbered Edition of 100: $150.
Unlimited Edition: From $24. [Buy Now]