The approach of evening is one of my favorite times of day to paint. The sun dropping down to the horizon creates dramatic long shadows and piercing shafts of bright light. These are the back fields of the Ulrich Farm. I hiked my way back making my way through the boggy sections still glazed over in thin ice and the snow retreating from the warmer day temps. 
I wanted to paint this scene with the old hay wagon, retired from its many years of service, now parked out along the scrubby brush line dividing the two fields. It's almost as if it has become one with its setting, echoing the colors and textures of its surroundings. I loved the long shadows stretching across the ground and the glow of the brush along the back horizon - that evening glow. It doesn't last long... I painted until it was dusk and then finished it up in the studio that night while everything was still etched in my memory.

We have enjoyed some unusually warm days in between the cold wintery ones. (In fact, the next day, this scene was blanketed in heavy snow!). But this day, was delightfully warm, almost 70 degrees and I took advantage of the weather to return to the Ulrich farm to paint.
I love the old farm lane that enters from a smaller, older side road, Hill Road. It's the original entrance to the farm, and there is a special feeling when you turn onto the dirt lane and pass through the canopy of trees along its edge. There's a sense of timelessness, a feeling of reverence as I make my way down past these wonderful barns and outbuildings. Though they are now quiet, dormant in this stage of their lives, they speak of years of hard work, lives well lived, endless seasons and harvests of plenty.

"The Old Farm Lane," plein air watercolor, 18" x 12"
If you look closely you'll see Piccadilly and Midge sunbathing in the barnyard... they are the resident donkeys who still enjoy the comforts of the barn and farm.