DNA

This is the wheat field across from my parents' farm (Kechi, KS). I took this photo on Friday. When I returned on Sunday, it was being harvested. I took a video of the field, too, because dry wheat heads blowing in the wind make the most fantastic white noise sound. If you like rustling leaves, you'd like this noise, too. I'll load up the video soon.

The rest of these photos are all taken at the Cloud family farm in Osceola, MO.

See the pink in these two photos now? There's no filter on my camera. It's just the reflecting setting sun.

In October 1890 Monet wrote a letter to the art critic Gustave Geffroy about the hay stacks series he was painting, saying: "I'm hard at it, working stubbornly on a series of different effects, but at this time of year the sun sets so fast that it's impossible to keep up with it ... the further I get, the more I see that a lot of work has to be done in order to render what I'm looking for: 'instantaneity', the 'envelope' above all, the same light spread over everything... I'm increasingly obsessed by the need to render what I experience, and I'm praying that I'll have a few more good years left to me because I think I may make some progress in that direction..." 1

You know all those paintings of haystacks? I always thought the artists had special eyes. Turns out there is pink in there! This was an exciting discovery for me. When I first got down to the field I only saw golds and greens. Then once I added the sky, I saw blue everywhere. Shortly thereafter the pink tones started popping out all over the place. The haystacks changed with the sun---or rather the light rays bounced differently. I can see why Monet was so interested in observing and recording these changes. It was almost unbelievable how much the field changed in 20 minutes. I wish I would have made more time to sketch this weekend. This was it. I guess that means I'll need to go back soon.

Also, until this weekend I did not know these tightly spiraled Nautilus' are unrolled like sod/carpet behind the tractor to feed the animals. Cool, huh?




References: 1. Monet by Himself, p172, edited by Richard Kendall, MacDonald & Co, London, 1989.