The Hook and the Hornet

Why paint plein aire inside? Why not? Crazy to pass up a chance to paint where Andrew Wyeth painted many paintings. The Hook and the Hornet is painted from the third floor of the farmhouse. The same room where Andrew Wyeth painted many of the Helga paintings. Here, there were hooks on the ceiling, that were once used to cure meats or dry garlic. Today, the hooks were covered with hornets while I was painting The Portraits, and it seemed a good representation of Karl Kuerner and the harsh reality of farm life and his past as a soldier. (oil on panel, (6x12inches)

Kuerner Farm was the inspiration for close to 1,000 of Andrew Wyeth's paintings. Andrew Wyeth was an inspiration for his symbolism and compositional arrangement. I learned of Plein Aire Days, a program of the Brandywine Conservancy in Chadds Ford PA, traveled there early in May for 2 days of painting at Kuerner Farm. To take advantage of the experience, I thought representationally (think symbolism) and not realistically.