The inspiration

Glenn’s Corn 5: The Inspiration

I was invited to witness the growth of a single plant in a field of many, to watch the slowness of growth within my fast life, to make the unseen seeable and these are some of the reasons I paint and create. The sun shone on one small corn plant in a dairy farmer’s corn field almost 5 years ago and that one plant has led me on a journey to understand its life cycle and to find that cycle tied to mine bringing an understanding of a spring morning when a single, newly emerged corn plant of about 6” glowed yellow in its center as the dawn sun shone through it inspiring me to understand where our food comes from.

Glenn's Corn 5: The Inspiration is a fiber art piece with embroidery thread, pencil and pastel on canvas highlighting a young corn plant which inspired me to create mixed media pieces about a growing corn field. The use of embroidery is to heighten the inspirational plant making the rest of the corn field seem like shadows since this one plant was the inspiration. 3 different colors of yellow were used to create the glow the rising sun produced on this young plant. This piece is one of many artworks which explores food production sustainability through focusing on the relationship between us and the food system we have created.