In 1987, I and a group of fellow artist out on a day of painting, discovered this abandoned farm just outside New Hamburg, Ontario. We explored the buildings and were impressed with the machinery inside the barn, such as an auger system set in the floor to move waste outside and the efficient design of the milking stations.Looking  through the windows of the very elaborate farm house one could make out impressive woodwork inside. This was a very successful dairy farm in the 40″s. We set up our easels in various locations and painted. This watercolour is one of the scenes I completed. I added the buggy  to the composition. Just behind me in this painting was a brick smoke house by the river. What a wonderful day we had! I went back about a month later to paint some more and everything was gone. Completely bulldozed over. Now it is a subdivision.

This was one of four covers I did for a Waterloo Magazine in 1984. On the four covers, I used the same characters for the four seasons, an idea borrowed from Norman Rockwell. This, of course, was the October edition. You remember the winter edition with the characters playing checkers in front of a wood stove?

This commission came to me through the daughter of the subject of this painting. This gentleman would travel to different outdoor shows where he would demonstrate the workings of a blacksmith. He would take the blower you can see by the forge to the particular show and use it to fan the coals to a high temperature to work metal. The daughter said I captured his blacksmith shop to perfection.