Elevator in the Palouse

Driving around Kansas, I had the opportunity to photograph numerous grain elevators. I have been using the photos for subjects of watercolors. I particularly liked to paint the geometric shapes, shadows, textures, and perspectives of the grain elevators. The large sky areas are a challenge for a uniform wash. I have done about five paintings so far, but based on the number of photos I have, many more are coming.

This painting depicts an elevator in the Palouse, an area of wind-blown loess hills in southeast Washington known for growing wheat and lentils. This elevator is located south of Pullman on the highway to Clarksville. It has been scavenged for its corrugated metal siding which was added to the elevators to protect the wood siding. There were also several political campaign signs on the elevator that I omitted from the painting. The elevator still has a use as a billboard frame even if its crop storage days are long over. One of these days it will fall down after the ravaging is done and weather takes its toll.

One of my elevator paintings titled, Sentinels of the Prairie, appears on this blog. I hadn't seen any other paintings of grain elevators at art shows, so I thought that perhaps I had a unique subject. I had never Googled images for grain elevators, but I should have. Last week, in a local newspaper, a magazine called American Profile featured an article titled, "Prairie Cathedrals" about "A Montana couple's love affair with grain elevators". Upon reading the article, I learned there was an organization called the Country Grain Elevator Historical Society. The couple featured in the article, Bruce and Barbara Selyem of Bozeman, Montana, also have a web site. The full article, Prairie Cathedrals, is posted to the magazine's web site. There is even a slide show of photographs taken by Mr. Selyem. This new knowledge of mine makes my fascination with grain elevators as a subject for watercolor paintings seem more important.