Abandoned Rural America 2 is Opening on August 30th

Hello Valued Reader

The second of the Abandoned Rural America series is about to have its opening at the Steffen Thomas Museum of Art. The Madison Artists Guild and the Madison-Morgan Conservancy have joined with STMA in sponsoring our updated show honoring the memory of the small family farmer in our country. We have added a new member to out team, photographer Lisa Wheeler, as well as artist and model maker Eugene Swain who is supplying one of his amazing lifelike models of an old family farmhouse for our show's reception on August 30th. After the show opening I will post some of the new works that can be seen (and purchased) at the show which goes from August 30th until October 27th. Here is a link to more information on the show from Karen Strelecki, Arts Outreach Coordinator and Marketing Associate: STMA/ARA2 and below is a copy of our current poster announcing the show. I plan to see you all there at the reception. Please click on the image to make it larger.
Best Regards, Pete

Update to the Old Pennsylvania Farmhouse

The painting that I did in my last post was an indication of how the old farmhouse next to my parent's Pennsylvania property looked 2 and a half years ago. I came up for a visit and took a few new photos showing the state of the property in late June 2012. Here is the result.

As you can see, the back side of the house, after the split, has collapsed. The front is leaning to the left and I expect that within a year or so, the entire farmhouse will be just a pile of rubble.









This is one of the buildings on the farm and all is overgrown by weeds and brush dotted with a few Tiger Lilies.




My next post with outline some of the farms that I came across wile traveling through Virginia and Penna in June and early July 2012.


To see more of the old abandoned farmsteads as well as the beautiful landscapes that comprise our eastern United States rural farmland, attend the upcoming Abandoned Rural America 2 show at the Steffen Thomas Museum of Art in Buckhead GA. The opening is August 30th and it will run through the later part of October 2012 with paintings, drawings photos and a video from myself and painter Don Jolley as well as photograhers Charles St John Dyer and Lisa Wheeler.

For more information visit: www.steffenthomas.org or download the info PDF at: http://www.steffenthomas.org/news_press/abandoned-rural-america2.pdf

Painting an Abandoned Farmhouse in Pennsylvania

This old farmhouse is on property near my parents' house in the north eastern Pennsylvania countryside. It has been vacant for decades after the head of the family had passed away. One of his sons moved to the city to pursue his career while the other son lived in a trailer next to the main farm house. The farm itself went into disuse long before the father passed away. I believe that the family, as a whole, lost heart in farming and just gave up in the property. This is the process that i go through when I paint an egg tempera on watercolor paper instead of a gessoed panel. Let me know what you think.
Pete

An April 2012 Visit to Saint Mary's Georgia

Here is a slide show of some of our Saint Mary's shots wile visiting there last week. Hope you enjoy the view.

A Short Trip Through Okefenokee National Park

Hello Friends and Family

Jewel and I recently went on a little trip to Saint Mary's Georgia and the Okefenokee National Park. I took some additional reference photos for Abandoned Rural America show series along the way as well as flora and fauna in the southern Georgia region.

Here is a short slide video of Okefenokee and I will post another of Saint Mary's later in the week.

I hope that you enjoy the images. Music is by Martin Denny.

Pete

A New Painting for Abandoned Rural America

Here is one of my newer paintings for the ARA show.

Beginning the painting process in egg tempera.

Adding more color and layers in the painting.

Working clouds in the sky.

Adding shadows and more color.

An overall color wash.

Working details in the trees and softening the background.

Forming the foreground structure and some details into the house.

Working on the boards of the house.

More detail in the house and work on the clouds.

Creating realistic colors in the foreground.

Now I’m down to the finer details in the house and the entrance to the property.

The final painting with a bird in the sky, red tail hawk maybe?

Abandoned Rural Art Reception Images

Hello Reader

Here are a few photographs of the Abandoned Rural America Show opening on the 25th of March. As you can see the weather was superb. The reaction of the guests and visitors was encouraging. Now we will need to top this for the follow up show at the Steffen Tomas Museum of Art in September.

Pre-show setup in center gallery area.

One of Don’s paintings next to Blake’s photograph.

 Visitors at the Film showing.

 Wayne and Liz Jones from Pennsylvania eye the art.

A visitor eyes the show artworks.

Charles Dyer and Don Jolley with wives.

Dan from Penna with Jewel.

A visitor with Don’s wife Linda.

Erik and Bea Ekstrom from Denmark.

Gallery 1, right wall.

The hallway to the back of the Gallery. 

We have art and photographs displayed everywhere.

Art patron Ira Block.

The Greenwoods, Jacqui and Tom.

Jewel, my greatest fan.

Musician and scrimshaw artist Joe Reynolds.

Don’s son talks with narrator John McCarthy.

Jewel with visitors.

Judy Pace on right with her sister in front of a

painting of their old family homestead.

The main Gallery wall 1.

Mason at show entrance.

GAA president Mev Roszman.

Joe remarks on the show’s video.

Gallery personnel; Randy Cannon, executive director, 

Amy Davis, office manager, and Brian Renko, 

program coordinator.

Reception desk area.

Great reception food prepared by

the Civic Woman’s Club of Milledgeville.

My son Rex in front of the Gallery, The Marlor House.

More visitors to the show’s reception.

Special Guest Samuel Clements (played by Bill Scholly)

gives an introduction to the show’s film.

Daughter-in-law Vicki with granddaughter Janna.

More visitors to see the show artworks.

We artists give a brief description of our technique.

Abandoned Rural America

Hi All!

Reception only 9 days away!

The show is almost upon us and all of the art pieces are at the gallery. I was fortunate to be able to speak to the Milledgeville Kiwanis 2 weeks ago and then the Milledgeville Civic Woman’s Organization yesterday. There is a lot of interested in these old abandoned farms and I expect to have a lot of folks enjoying the works and the video at the upcoming March 25th reception. There is more about the show here and I’ve posted a little video trailer below. There will be a much bigger and interesting video production shown at the reception. Hope to see you there next Sunday from 1 pm to 3 pm, The Marlor House, 201 North Wayne Street, Milledgeville.

Notes on Abandoned Rural America Exhibit

Why I Planned This Show

Throughout my life I have marveled at the beauty of nature, been drawn to the time-worn lines of character in the faces and hands of older folks, was inspired by the mysteries in untamed woodlands and wetlands. When I was a kid growing up in the mountains of Northeast Pennsylvania I would hike for hours in the woods to explore old trails where I would discover old rock structures thought to have been created by Native Americans for shelter. Old farmhouses are kind of like that to me. A wonder of people’s past lives, now devoid of human development, at the mercy of the elements and left to the wiles of nature’s transmutations. 

Some of the abandoned farm buildings were built so well that they would last for generations making one wonder why anyone would leave these houses empty and deserted. I can almost feel the spirits of the people who once settled in these rural buildings, visualize the children playing in the yards, husband chopping wood for the fire, wife preparing dinner for the family or working at the spinning wheel or sewing machine making clothes for them all. It occurs to me that the folks settling in these places had hopes and dreams for the future of their families and that they were possibly laying the foundation for future generations of their descendants to have an estate the family will always call their own and then have everything change direction forcing them to desert the homestead forever.

My grandparents came to America from the Ukraine and Russia in the early part of the twentieth century and worked hard to establish such a foundation for the Muzyka family. Unfortunately it didn’t work out that way and each of their children went their own way abandoning the family homestead. This has always affected the way that I view the loss of family ties and the vacant, sad and lonely structures that represent broken dreams. It is often said that the eyes are a window onto the world. I see the windows of these abandoned homes as eyes that have seen the lives of vibrant people gone away leaving behind the spirit of their hopes and dreams.

I‘ve invited 3 artist friends to participate in this opening exhibition. Possibly in the future, if this show is accepted and travels to other areas, I may be able to invite other artists to participate as well as add new works to the exhibition.

This book and exhibit is dedicated to the memory of all the dreamers and planners whose prospects for the future were irrevocably changed leaving behind an ethereal visage of what once might have been. 

The Seasons Section of ARA

Another book and show section for the Abandoned Rural America exhibition will be highlighting the seasons. Various photographs and paintings will be dedicated to showing the rural scene, especially containing old abandoned rural buildings during the 4 seasons. I believe that displaying the beauty of the rural landscape along with the vanishing culture puts an engrossing perspective on the imagery that we might otherwise overlook.

Here are the opening pages to the Seasons section: