All this and more…

“All this and more,
yet how I would like to relax,
to be content with a wheelbarrow,
a rake, an apple basket, a pipe.”

NC Wyeth

I was reading NC’s letters a few winters back
and loving every page when I stumbled upon this quote.
I copied it in my sketchbook and there it rested
percolating on the back burner.

When it came time to work on the Apple Series paintings
I dug back through the dog-eared pages and found it again.
Perfect.
The search then began for the props.

I was determined to work on these paintings in season so to speak
and had visited the local orchard dozens of times to get myself in the spirit.
But here in Manchester they won’t let you take the baskets home after you go a’ picking.
So I sent Pat out hunting.
She came back with this magnificent specimen
borrowed from the little fruit stand lady
but it was a loaner so I had to hurry.

The boots are my most favorite hand me downs from Fred
and the overhauls, gloves and hat are my work uniform
but the wheelbarrow…all of mine are the modern day junky kind.
No character whatsoever.
I mentioned it to Saren one day on our dog walk
and she said I could borrow hers if I came and got it.
When I arrived it was in a sorry state of
multiple pieces but was just what I wanted.
So we threw what didn’t disintegrate into the truck
and I spent an afternoon rebuilding what of it I could.

I set it up in the studio yard, just as you see it here.
There are very few artistic licenses invoked
with the exception of that sweet stone wall.
I’ve currently got a flower bed there
but I kinda like the vineyard touch
so that project might go on the list.

Which leaves the pipe.
I have had it for years and believed it to be from Peter’s father, Mo.
Not so says the bard
or make that the beard
when he visited last fall.
Nope, not from his dad.

I’m not convinced but it doesn’t’ really change the fact that
if I close my eyes and listen to the whispering wind
s over these Pennsylvania farmlands…

I can just about see NC with it in his powerful hand…