east granby #13

In 1630 when the first settlers came to the Connecticut River valley, the Native Americans were already growing tobacco.  By the 1700's tobacco was being exported to Europe.  Needless to say tobacco has a long history in Connecticut's agriculture.  And for the past forty years the tobacco sheds that dot the landscape of the Connecticut River Valley and the cloth that shade the plants have been subjects for my art. I view the sheds as giant geometric configurations, peacefully guarding secrets and tales from the past. In the spring before the cloth is tied down, it is looped over the wire grid that will eventually support it. Late in the afternoon, after the workers have left the fields the sun is low in the sky and the wind picks up. The sheer white cloth softly billowing over the freshly tilled soil, that surrounds the sheds, is a breath taking sight. It is this stage of the farmers process that I find most visually exciting. It transforms the farmland to a mystical landscape.