Barn Swallows Leaving

August 30 2020 
21 x 24in 
acrylic on masonite

Both farmers and migratory birds are keenly aware of the passing of days, and the changes in both the quality of light and length of daylight as the seasons change. The shadows on August 30 will not look like the shadows on September 30.

For the Swallows, they have spent the summer raising 3 broods of young, and our 20 active nests contributed 200 new individuals to a population suffering over 80% rates of decline. The Swallows have senses the change in daylength, and have stopped breeding in order to fuel up for migration, flying from our farm in Sebringville to destinations as far flung as Brazil. For the young of the year, they will be making the journey for the first time, yet somehow manage to navigate by the stars, aided by weather systems streaming southward. Such a distance means the birds have to get the timing right, before their food supply runs out on their northern grounds.

This year, on August 30, I watched as a massive flock of Barn Swallows passed over our farm at sunset, circling high above, catching insects on the wing. At that moment, all of the Swallows from our farm began ascending en masse to join the ever growing supercell of Swallows, and begin their journey south.

This painting is called 'Barn Swallows Leaving (August 30th), and it touches on the passing and keeping of time, witnessing the change of seasons so prevalent from the fixed reference point of our farm. The cycle of life, told through the lives of the Swallows, and the mystery of the dark threshold beyond the broken window pane. Light/dark, transparency/secrecy, happiness/tragedy, and so on. When we first bought the farm 20 years ago, the first thing I did was to put new boards on the barn, and windows to try and let the light in. The barn and I have both weathered. A lot. Swipe left for details and geometric schema drawing.