Friday, April 18, 2014

Weir Farm: Day Two

Shortest commute in the history of my existence.  This is a view from the cottage porch (aka my crib) looking at the studio.  The barn door to the studio slides open to reveal a really amazing space.  High ceilings, enormous windows that swing open to the elements, a back porch overlooking a creek, skylights, you know - the usual accouterments to a badass work zone.  

Took stock of the day's activities and decided that a hike was needed.  I have to know what I'm working with here.  I bundled up, chugged my coffee, grabbed the camera, and was off.  Did I mention that Weir Farm is part of the National Park Service, cuz it is.  When I say I was off, I mean I crossed the street because that is where the visitor center is located.  It's like existing in an urban downtown area completely immersed in convenience but instead of businesses and noise it is conveniently located to amazing nature with park rangers, maps of trails, books on the land's history, etc.

I saw many trees.  These were my three favorites.  There are a lot of vertical lines here. 

Horizontal lines are also popular.  Stone walls are a big part of the landscape in this part of the country and I am now infatuated with them.  There are different types of walls:  thrown walls, laid walls, and one of my personal favs - rubble-filled walls.  Walking a trail deep in the woods and seeing a stone wall that was built about 200 years ago cut across the landscape is pretty cool.  And they are everywhere, sectioning off bits of land which now seem so random.  (I just totally geeked out on walls.)

Areas like this reminded me of watching Land of the Lost when I was kid but without the dinosaurs.

I really liked this specific batch of dried flowers.

After walking the grounds solo, it was time to hit up a ranger for a tour.  Andrew the Ranger was awesome, our first stop: the Weir residence which has been in the midst of a major restoration for the last seven years and will soon open to the public for the first time.  We got a chance to see it almost complete…

 This would have to be the top pic of the day:  old skool guns strewn about nonchalantly in the recreated, period-accurate Weir museum home.  They will soon go to their designated places within the house but for now, according to my mind, they are an arsenal planning to be used in an elaborate bank heist.

 Um, hey-anybody up for some insane wallpaper?

How about visiting the sculpture studio… 

 …complete with a tub of fake clay.

Then it was back to the studio to absorb the afternoon's discoveries.  I began a painting using the above collage.  Another indoor/outdoor experiment.

I'll leave you with these three words:  fur. trapper. bust. (This one's for you Lani 2 Bucks)

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