Norman (Norm) Jarvis was the quintessential Vermont farmer. He lived at the end of the Notch Rd. just past our home which, in the past, traveled up and over the “Notch between the two Cutneys”- Little Ascutney Mountain and Big Ascutney Mountain. This bumpy, steep, rocky road takes you through the woods and over to West Windsor. Norm’s farm lies in a valley at the base of the two mountains. Moose, bear, deer, bobcats and turkeys regularly visit and I’m sure Norm’s collection of farm animals, which included cows, chickens, rabbits, cats and pigs were happy to be mostly inside safe enclosures. I would walk down there with my daughter when she was small and visit with the animals. She learned about “real” farm life at a very young age. We made the early mistake of naming the cows- One Spot and Two Spot were her favorites. One day Norm drove into our driveway in his old tan pickup and handed me a leg bone for our Newfoundland dog, Bosun, to enjoy. I went pale and said, “Oh no! Not Two Spot?” He said, “Two Spot?” and he laughed and said, “Oh yeah, he did have two spots. Didn’t he?” My daughter was devastated. Bosun trotted off with the huge bone and promptly buried it in the backyard.
Norm passed away in 1999. His wife, Josie stayed on and the place was quiet. The stone walls were overgrown by vines and the wire fences rusted and fell down. A few years ago the farm was sold to our new neighbor, Rika. She has done Norm proud. She cherishes the place and tends beautiful gardens of veggies and herbs. She celebrates the critters that come down from the mountain and visit her. The dirt road down there is now a community gathering place for dogs and their people. We often joke that we should set up a meter so we could count how many walk by our house on the way down to Norms- I mean Rika’s- on any given day.
I painted a floorcloth which displays “Norman’s Ark” back in the late 1990s. When Norm died and the farm went still, I hung it in my studio so I could remember him and his place. Then when Rika moved in I knew she had to have it, so it’s down there at the house she shares with Norm’s spirit.
I decided I wanted to revisit the painting. I found a page in an antique encyclopedia with text about “Agriculture”. There are a couple of paragraphs about fences which I love. So I tore the pages out and used them for the background sky. I washed on colors and clouds in the sky then began building the scene. I painted sheets of paper with grayish, purplish paint and dragged on texture to make the mountains. I tore up those pieces of paper and glued them on randomly. Same with the foreground grass. Then I cut up pictures of that old floorcloth and glued them on and painted over them. The pig and the cow were vintage etchings which I colored with ink and oil paint. I love this process. It feels very spontaneous. I use whatever it seems will work best at any place in the composition. I don’t limit myself to oils or acrylics or anything else. I just go with it. I like the roughness of it! It’s SO liberating!
This piece is 8″ X 10″ and when I put it in this great barnboard frame, it’s 11.5″ x 13.5″. It is for sale to the first person who emails me, Facebook messages me or comments here that they’d like to purchase it for $525 (which includes the frame and shipping).
Gallery wrapped prints of this are also available. Go here to order. Or maybe a set of note cards?