Study; Passing Thru to Say Goodbye

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

A note from the artist:
I painted this farmhouse from my memory, it resembles my Aunt Betty Lou and Uncle Jesse Lee’s place where I spent much of my youth. It was rumored the house was built as part of the John Prowers Ranch. I recall once slipping in under the house to fix some plumbing, and discovered that part of the makeshift foundation was made of adobe. Jesse’s father, Old Jess, once shot a goose from the front porch, as it was flying past in V-formation. When I was a boy, there was no running water in the house, just a hand pump connected to a cistern; all of the drinking water was hauled from town three miles away. That was one of my responsibilities, keeping the cisterns full both here and in my grandparents house a half mile west. My grandparents and Jesse and Betty Lou are all gone now, and cousins are tearing down this ancient home to build a new “modern” house. I understand the reasoning to do this, but that still doesn’t make it easy for me to see it disappear. Until they plant me in the ground I will carry fond memories of this place, and all of the people and events that filled its long storied past.