Call it an addiction, a genetic disorder, a wild passion, label it any way you would like, but I have a love of agriculture and fairs running through my veins. And well that makes perfect sense to me as my heart beats to a tune of a different drum. I gravitate toward vintage livestock photos, snap countless photos of display ideas, and examine signage, fonts and program themes with the scrutiny of an orthopedic surgeon analyzing X-rays. And when I happen to be lucky enough to come across an inspiration, well I capture it.
Combine my heart with my head and that is where life starts to get a little “ranch”. My mind works in a fashion that is different from most. I live on the corner of math and logic meet creative process and chaos. Objects are not three-dimensional, but six dimensional. I see things for what they are now, what they have been and what they could be in the future. The word that I have decided that best describes my true nature is creation.
The final week of senior project we celebrated American agriculture. We visited a farmer’s market, made brunch and dined like a family. We toured a brewery. Experienced the entire process from the grains being unloaded to the bottling line. And finally we visited the Royal Adelaide Showgrounds and learned the deep history of the Royal Adelaide Agriculture Society. That was a month ago and here I sit still pondering how to express my vision in a blog post.
Harnessing that creative process and narrowing it down to a simple message is a challenge. I needed a week at Brain Camp. Time to change my perspective and tackle my dilemma from a different vantage point. But where do I find the space, time, and that view from above? And then I stopped and realized for the past three months I have done nothing but capture the little moments of inspiration. Why not share them. Sure there is no obvious common thread, but then again, isn’t the common thread my mind’s eye?
As we drove home from our tour of the Great Ocean Road, I looked at Lilly and said “Isn’t all this farm land just beautiful?” From as far as the eye could see were open fields full of grazing sheep and cattle. We even passed a farmer in his field assisting a cow with her calf. Hard work, land, nature, well that filled my heart and the many breeds of livestock, vintage farm houses and ratty old signs caused visions of fair exhibits to dance in my head. So to all of those like minded fair crazies, this blog is a wish for a fabulous 2015 Fair season.
a little bit about a lot of things 