As I rode my bike in the hills and farm country, I came across this field of sunflowers. The next day I brought my paints and set up my easel by the field and started painting. What I really loved about this field in particular was the wildness about it. There were no neat rows of evenly spaced flowers of the same height. Instead, there were some large, some small, and it seemed so natural. As I painted, the landowner walked down from his home to see what I was doing. I found out from him that they were planted as a natural fertilizer for the field. Instead of using chemical fertilizers, they throw the sunflower seed out there, hence the wild feel. Once the flowers are done, they just drive over them, mashing them into the soil and let them feed the soil over the winter. I love that! Before he left me to finish painting, he left me a pair of cutters so I could cut myself some flowers to bring home.
As I rode my bike in the hills and farm country, I came across this field of sunflowers. The next day I brought my paints and set up my easel by the field and started painting. What I really loved about this field in particular was the wildness about it. There were no neat rows of evenly spaced flowers of the same height. Instead, there were some large, some small, and it seemed so natural. As I painted, the landowner walked down from his home to see what I was doing. I found out from him that they were planted as a natural fertilizer for the field. Instead of using chemical fertilizers, they throw the sunflower seed out there, hence the wild feel. Once the flowers are done, they just drive over them, mashing them into the soil and let them feed the soil over the winter. I love that! Before he left me to finish painting, he left me a pair of cutters so I could cut myself some flowers to bring home.
This is part of the Summer Invitational in downtown Syracuse.