Smith Farm at Atlanta History Center

Varnished Daniel Smith Extra Fine watercolor paint on 200# Rough Saunders Waterford Watercolor Paper archivally mounted on gatorboard

Painted as part of the 2022 Olmsted Plein Air Invitational, Atlanta, Georgia

As I explored my painting options I found this transplanted homestead. Numerous other artists set up at various locations around the homestead, choosing to paint the goats in the barnyard, the architecture of the barn structures, or even the old farmhouse behind me that had modern high-rises in the sky beyond. However, I became most interested in the way the lighting illuminated the layering of the forest beyond (a unique landscape compared to what I typically have available), the barn structures, the barnyard and fencing surrounding it, the road between it and the stairs/fence, the picket fence itself (which I considered to be an important graphic component), the garden beds and the gravel yard in the foreground. After exploring several compositional options, I settled on this linear format in order to emphasize this layering. While working on this painting I reflected on the history of this complex, eventually imagining these layers as representative of the layers of time between its development and our modern times.