Holstein Helper

My childhood memories are tied to our dairy farm in Campbell Hall, Orange County, NY. The branches of the apple tree in our backyard were just out of reach for the Holsteins. One cow in particular would see me sitting there on the fence, and somehow we worked out this helpful situation. I do remember being very afraid of the cow getting too close to me, since they were such huge animals. My Dad is driving the old gray Ford tractor after we had retrieved a newborn calf from the far end of the pasture. The mother cow followed very closely behind us as I stayed in the cart with the baby. She was angry that we picked up her new calf, and protective, and I thought she was going to bite me. I was 8 yrs. old. This is an “autobiographical painting.” In this painting: our dog “Tippy,” my lost turtle, cows standing in the pond, my pink Schwinn bicycle with the cool headlamp (from “Joe Fix-It’s” in Goshen where we all got our trikes and Schwinns), a lost cow tag, Ellendale Farm mailbox with my Dad’s name, the white fence I painted (my first painting job) along Rt. 207 between Goshen and Campbell Hall, orange tiger lilies, plenty of cow-pies, the train that ran through the back part of the farm, rhubarb which grew under the apple tree, a nest of baby snakes I ran through barefoot, and elephants which I imagined I saw in the clouds.