Salvage

Last summer an EF2 tornado touched down in the northern part of Dodgeville - about 10 miles from where I live now. Many homes and farms along highway ZZ were damaged-barns leveled, forests of trees flatten in the blink of an eye.

Yesterday, I visited one such farm. The house and two of the outbuildings were completely unharmed. Looking at them today- you would have no idea that a tornado swept through 12 months ago. But two other barns, only 100 feet away were flatten. The owner is preparing to move and sell her property, but she heard I work with barn board, she invited me to come up and salvage materials for my next project.

So I donned my jeans, workbooks and gloves and when up to her place to do some, very careful digging....











I'm really excited about these materials -  the wood is noticeably different than the boards I used in Vermont. Some of the boards have chipped red or white paint on them, several have knot holes and a quite a few have nail heads that will be close to impossible to remove. I'm planning on leveraging these new characteristics. This difference is going to have an interesting effect on the next series of prints that I plan to do.


I have my work cut out for me today- I need to unload them, wash and sand them before I can even think about working on them. That part is the dirty business, thank god we have a nice cool breeze today- otherwise wearing all my protective gear will be very hot.

I'll keep you posted on how it all turns out.

Until next time- Stay creative!

Vanishing Vermont: Wells Lamson Quarry

Things a been a bit of a whirlwind for me the last two weeks. So I apologize for not getting a post up last week. I was teaching at Art-Is-You, in Stamford CT. Which was an amazing adventure of its own. Don't worry, I am going to share photos and insights from that event in the next few days.

But right now, I want to focus on a my day today. On a tip from a friend and fellow artist, I drove down to East Barre (right on the Websterville boarder) to visit the abandoned Wells Lamson Quarry. Barre's history is rich with stories of immigrants workers and industrialization. New England quarries are know for their consistent quality and significant deposits of raw materials. These photos I am sharing with you are just the beginning of the shots that I took today. This is the location of the oldest Granite Quarry in the US. crumble and waste away. I was completely taken in by the beauty of the site. The thing that strikes me the most about this location is how changed the landscape now is because of human interaction. I don't know all the details, but my understanding is that there are organizations out there that are trying to conserve the land and keep alive the historical importance of this place.


Look around and you will see that our natural world has be transformed by industry. Where industry has been, there seems to be significant marks upon the land. In this case, Nature is trying to take back what belongs to her. Today was a very fruitful day and inspiring too. I will continue to edit my photos and post them. Hopefully I will learn a bit more about Barre's granite history and share with you those important nuggets as well.

This place was a space of labor and livelihood for many men for over 100 years. I am sure if the rocks could talk they would have amazing stories to tell. Up on the hill, in the light drizzle, on a Sunday afternoon, there was something magical, yet uncanny there. The birds where chirping, flying in and out of the trees and I could swear in the silences I could hear the faint echoes of men working down in the depths of those pits: Machinery buzzing and clanking away.  

 

Thank you so much for visiting my blog. 

Please remember that I retain the rights to all original photography posted. While I am honored and flattered that you

might enjoy the work enough to want to use or repost other places, please do not do so with out permission. All photos copyright L Reynolds 2012

Thanks! Lorraine