Just off the easel

Mown barley with crows

Since moving out of the big city it has been one of my great joys to walk in the countryside and observe the changing seasons. This image captures a field of barley shortly after it has been harvested. This is the second painting of this particular landscape, the first being of the ripening grain, swaying in the breeze. Now the field has been cropped and the crows gather to eat the grain left behind by the harvester.

This small painting in oils is a study for a larger piece to complement the previous work and to record the rhythm of agricultural life in this part of the world. It is a theme to which I will return in the coming months.