Dryland Wheat

Dryland Wheat on the Plateau. ©2011 Lisa McShane. Oil on Linen. 12" x 24". SOLD.
This small piece is the result of my experiments with painting wheat.

This is the plateau that my great grandparents settled. It's always struck me as a strange place to settle. Around the time they moved there, Washington was a new state and this was a rocky, lawless area. The land was carved out by massive floods and where they live, water is a long way below the ground. Each farm is huge and is spread out along the tops of plateaus, separated by coulees. There are basalt outcrops in the coulees and rattlesnakes. It's hard to picture arriving in a wagon and thinking, "Yes, this looks like home."

But it's the edge of the Palouse and according to my husband (a geologist) the soil is windblown loess (that's a good thing.)

Now I think it's stunning.

Comments

Casey Klahn said…
These are sublime, Lisa! I wish they opened bigger, especially since they represent expanse!
December 7, 2011 at 9:35 AM
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