The wind storms of the last weeks have been consistent, and powerful. We have been lucky, no harm done, but after living through a major straight line wind storm years ago in which my then neighborhood was torn to pieces [I had no damage, but houses and trees everywhere were damaged or ruined], I've always become very agitated in wind storms.
Wind on the farm is just as much a companion as the sun, fog or birds. I love the wind when I am in the barn, and feel protected. But gusty winds that rip barn roofs off are what has been coming through lately. The last one inspired this painting. I had decided to put all the sheep back in the barn an hour early that day, since it was so gusty and rainy, and when I went out, it was like a scene out of Wizard of Oz. I remember thinking of the traveling magician that Dorothy sits with after she and Toto attempt to run away, and as the she leaves to return back home, the storm picks up. As a child, I could just feel how scary that was, and even though I watched that movie every year into my adult years and knew the outcome, that one scene just terrified me each time I saw it.
So I felt that in the wind last week, which is why this painting does seem to have a bit of an Oz feeling, although I didn't set out to do that. This piece is available through my studio, but if it doesn't sell it will go off to a gallery.
