Favorite Sights in Amish Country

Field Work by Sue Steiner, watercolor

I love living in an Amish and farming community. Today I got to see my all time favorite sight - a team of draft work horses out in the field. The big draft horses are impressive just by themselves but when they are hitched and in action it is somethig to behold! To my artist eye it is no longer beast and man toiling for food. Rather they become part of the landscape. The warm earthy tones of their coat blend with the grain or dirt in the field until it is just this beautiful partnership.

Okay, I am be romanticizing it just a bit but during my farming days I had to choose between machine and manual labor while tending my large market garden. My husband wanted to teach me how to use some of our machinery to keep up with the garden, save time and work more efficiently. I choose not to when I could. Why? Maybe as an artist efficiency is not always on the forefront of my mind! As I recollect I choose not to because when I worked without the machinery I could hear the birds sing and hear my kids playing in the shallow creek beside the garden catching frogs. I specifically remember a time when planting 100's and 100's of onion bulbs one early spring day. I was stooped down on my knees digging in the warm, damp dirt by hand, feeling the sun on my back listening to the sounds of nature and children at play. For that moment I could not of thought of a better thing to be doing. I felt connected to all the people before me who had dug in the dirt to feed their families. The promise of what the earth would yeild was whispering in my ear and it felt good to just wait.

Either that or I was intent on fulfilling the role of a 'starving artist'! :) Practicality, efficiency, romanticizing and daydreaming butting heads in the garden!

To see more animal and rural themed art go to http://www.suesteiner.com

thanks for stopping by!