Beauty… and a Sense of Place

by Alden Cole on January 2, 2015 · 0 comments

“Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.”
– Franz Kafka • #9 in a series: 12 Sayings for Christmas 2014, aka One Liners I Have Learned From…

Back2BackWPTwo paintings back-to-back on a single masonite panel, 24″ x 16″ both started in Vermont. The painting on the left was done in oils, started in August 2010 and reworked a couple of times in minor ways in subsequent years. The second painting was done in acrylics, started July 2013, with a number of final details added just this morning, the first day of 2015, to make this the first finished painting of the New Year.

1948-3VerticalViewsWPA Sense of Place: my aunt Dorothy Tenney Cole (May 3, 1910-March 19, 1990) had an artist’s eye for beauty, as these three simple snapshots from around the farm attest. Unusual is their verticality. Standard printed snapshots of the time measured 4″ wide by 2-1/2″ high; most printed photos I’ve worked with are horizontal in format to encompass a wider range left to right. Dorothy saw the beauty of the vertical format, as is also evident in the last photo of the suite below, looking up into the trees that formed the perimeter of her back yard. Below, more of her photos from 1948 recognizing the beauty of place, plus one from 1933 of her first-born, Robert Jr., sitting on the hood of the family car, in the company of aunt Charlotte Cole.

1948RakingHayWP1. Haying season out on the fields, trying out the latest piece of equipment.
2. Cows standing & waiting in the barn-yard for their turn to be milked.
3. The farm buildings as seen from down in the fields looking north up the hill.

1948Back40WP
1948FarmViewWP
1933Charlotte&BobJrWP
1948BackYard2WP

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