Hay Bale the documentary

Well, it never occurred to me that I would be doing a photo essay on haying, but on Sunday, the farmer was back in the field, having let the hay dry somewhat through Friday and Saturday. I could hear his tractor so I went out to inspect.

and found this amazing Lupin gone to seed at the edge of the hayfield out behind our house

 

And sure enough, as I looked to the south, there was the tractor with the baler on the end of it

 

Like toys, this poor shot captures the primary colours of the

 blue tractor and the red baler on a yellow field

And so the baling begins

 

Hay Bale on a Rolling Sea of Hay

 

and that's how I left our rural scene in the heat of the day as I scurried back into the cool of the house.

On Sunday morning I looked out onto the early morning haze of dawn, around

6:10 a.m. ....

 

I looked out the bedroom window, between the outbuildings and through the laundry line onto this idyllic scene

and scurried to get out while the shadows were long

 

the field was now strewn with hay bales

 

each with their own character

Wally called them Muffets, after the old cereal name for a type of shredded wheat

 

Behind me, to the east, the sun was just rising over the treeline

 

of course I had to play with the colour

 

just a little bit

 

It's only coincidence that these 3 bales got dropped so close together as the baler spits them out when they are "done

 

As I turned I got this different shot of what our property looks like from behind

I do feel awfully romantic about the whole thing, that this should be our new life

 

it makes me feel super strong

I only discovered the texture of the tire tracks as I came to colour correct this shot

I call it Circles and Chevrons

 

Self Portrait on a Hay Bale

 

a kitschy Monet needlepoint

 

and here is a shot of my sketchbook which shows how I used it for a work surface while making all those Artist Trading Cards I've been showing you

 

When I photocopied some for my records, I realized I could mount them beside their original sketches, something I'd never done before; a kind of historical documenting.

 

Today the weather is more temperate, a balance that I much prefer all 'round in life.

Balance is key.