Monday, January 09, 2006

barn side



After more than a week under a dead grey cloud cover we were rewarded with one day of sunshine. The light seemed to be absorbed by the saturated barn paint and then fed back to the cameras eye as a deep blend of color, form and texture.

Barns were places of shelter, protecting livestock, machinery and harvested crops from the elements. They are, in my opinion, a wonderful example of beauty, form and function. I can't say that I've ever seen an ugly barn, although some fall into the status of curiousities. There's a barn west of here that I call the "ship". It was enlarged over time with odd additions and from a distance the appearance is of something out of Mad Max.

This has a fairly fresh coat of paint, and many say the paint is what hold the barn together. My favorite are those that have weathered to a silvery grey over time.

6 comments:

srp said...

I personally love the red barns, although my grandfather's was the weathered wood. Some these days are metal and remind me more of overgrown sheds than real barns. The "ship" sounds fascinating.

Tim Rice said...

Barns certainly can be beautifully artistic in their own ways. If you like barns, you might like to check out my January 9 entry on my blog.

R.Powers said...

I vote for red too. Barns should be red.

Anonymous said...

I love barns. Where I'm from (Northern California) there are many. Old and new. Red and withered silvery. Some a deep green. With the exception of the metal kind (which srp mentioned above), I've never seen an ugly barn.

OldLady Of The Hills said...

Wonderful photograph, as always!
Barns have a warm cozy feeling to me..if when they are big! Maybe because I know that the house wonderful living and not living things in them, protecting all of this from the elements! I Love barns.

Walter Jeffries said...

Nice contrasts in that photo. I like.