"Back in April, 1970, or so, a friend of
mine ask me if I would like to take a drive out towards Houston to see the
Bluebonnets and other wildflowers in full bloom. Back in those days, it was the
thing to do, to go see the Bluebonnets in full bloom out in the countryside. So,
of course, I said yes.
Armed with ,my trusty Nikromat camera, I was
ready to take some beautiful wildflower shots. As we drove down the highway, my
friend said to me, 'Would you like to see the Chicken Ranch? It's right up the
road'. Well, I couldn't resist the excitement of seeing THE Chicken
Ranch, so I again said, yes!
As we drove through the gate, my friend said
'Look at all the air conditioners in all of the windows!' I was noticing how
many windows were on the house, each with it's own window unit, when I saw a car
leaving the grounds. He drove very close to our car as the driveway was narrow.
At that moment I realized that, maybe, the driver of the car thought that 'I'
was returning to my workplace! I dove down under the dash to hide, and requested
that we leave the premises promptly!
On the way back home, I saw this old farm and
beautiful field of Bluebonnets and Paintbrush. There was one cow in the
background. The scene was so peaceful and colorful. I took a few photos and
three years later, painted this oil painting. At the time, I had only two oil
painting brushes. I painted this 24 inch by 36 inch canvas using one, half inch
paint brush and a few tubes of oil paint.
Since that time, many people have wanted to
purchase the original painting, but I never can bring myself to sell it. It
represents the start of my business career in art, a wonderful exciting and
happy memory, and it's one of the few paintings I have painted for myself.
Throughout the years, I have often wondered if
the old farm still exists. I have driven down the highway many times since then,
but because of the heavy traffic pushing me onward, I never seemed to find the
exact place where the old farm was. In late 2004, however, I was a passenger in
my sisters car. As we came upon the town, I ask her to drive slowly so that I
could look for the old farm. She asked me how long ago it had been since I took
the picture. I said, 'In 1970'. She looked at me and said, 'That's been 34 years
ago! It won't be there. It was old then!'. At that exact moment, I saw it. The
old house looked the same. The windmill was broken and falling down. The old
barn, and what looked to me to be chicken coops, had been kept up too. They were
now being used to house large bales of hay. We pulled over and I took new
photos. The Bluebonnets weren't there, but the memories
were.

Merri
About the Artist...
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"Texas Remembrance"! Own a piece of history!!