Ripening – 14 x 22″ canvas framed, originally $285, now $175

In 2008 my dear friend Veronica Pelicaric took me to visit her family in Argentina.  We travelled from Buenos Aires to Ballalochi at the southern tip. I took many photos on that trip and several have continued to be part of my collection (3, including this one, are part of the sale). That day, we were visiting her friend Miguel, a famous Argentine painter, and his wife Susie at their home near Cordoba. I remember the day vividly, especially touring Miguel’s studio and talking with him about art. I was fascinated by his brushes, his unfinished canvasses, and his way of  seeing so-called “mistakes” as the path to something better than he’d originally conceived.

In the early evening, he took us to a hilltop that overlooked a large valley below; it was a place he came to often to contemplate and be silent. In front of us was a field of ripening wheat illuminated by the setting sun. In the distance, the horizon almost disappeared.  It was as if the earth merged into the sky. I was barely two years into my career at the time, still discovering my potential and “eye.” I toyed with naming it a Field of Dreams, but I settled on Ripening, because that was exactly what I was doing, maturing as a photographer. The power this image to inspire me has continued to this day.  There is a copy of it in my bedroom where I can see it every morning. Like Miguel, the mere contemplation of that landscape fills me with a sense of joy, promise and curiosity.