Level Crossing

2009
25.5 x 40.5in
acrylic on masonite

Farming is a challenging, difficult vocation.  So much of one’s existence and livelihood is completely at the mercy of the weather.  And, as farms are getting bigger, the financial burdens are increasing.  It’s not hard to see why sometimes the pressures beyond our control can be overwhelming.  As a new farmer with a young family, I was well aware of the financial responsibility sitting on our shoulders, and the lives of both our children and livestock needed to be constantly at the forefront of my thoughts. To make ends meet in the lean Winter months, I often took on a second job, relief milking on local dairy farms.  On just such an occasion, I was caught in one of Perth County’s infamous snow squalls, and driving along the county roads became a dangerous undertaking, made worse by the near zero visibility at a train crossing I had to drive through. A moments inattentiveness, or a brief lapse of judgement could have changed everything.  It took me twenty years to summon the courage to do this painting, and felt a tremendous sense of catharsis once it was finished. I had finally got it out of me.

I found the idea of a truck called a Dodge Ram parked on a railroad crossing a compelling one, for it implies a dual outcome. The brake lights are on in the truck, and the railroad crossing lights are flashing. Clearly a moment of decision is upon the driver.  It’s worth noting that the driver (me) is staring in the direction of the oncoming train, but the observer of the painting is place behind the truck, facing down the road. The licence plate counts down…

Ultimately, this is a painting about decision making, and a reference to the notion that an artist is sometimes one who looks in a direction different from a crowd, and that our role should be to seek a path when all seems obscured by events in our lives.