Page 4 Excerpt
Featuring "Winter Scene"
When the leaves are off the trees, it is easier to see the
farm buildings. Many of the structures in Washington
County and its environs are from the late eighteenth
and early nineteenth centuries, of sturdy post-and-beam construction, with roofs of local slate. Barns and other
outbuildings define the farm landscape and add human
scale to the vastness of the fields. Icehouses, corncribs,
even a few privies still stand on many of the old farms.
Although no longer used for their original purposes, the
old buildings have stayed put for a variety of reasons,
not least of which is the fact that they were crafted
with a keen aesthetic sense. An economist would say
they add value as improvements to the lot. I think the
improvement goes beyond any utilitarian calculation
and speaks to our basic need for order and structure in
our surroundings. The old outbuildings are a comforting
presence, a reminder of bygone ways of doing things,
and a tangible legacy of those who planned and dreamed
and built.
"Winter Scene"
I think this painting captures how lonely it can be in
the dead of winter when you can hear and feel your
feet crunch on the icy, hard packed snow. The emperature
sometimes gets to sub-zero in these parts. This
house and barn are part of the original Jablonski family’s
homestead, who have been farming in Argyle since
We do not travel to our hometown of Greenwich the early 1900’s.