Art for Land’s Sake

Over the weekend, The Valley’s Planning Council, a land preservation organization just outside Baltimore, held its annual fundraiser at the stunning Halcyon Farm, home of Stiles Colwill and Jonathan Gargiulo. As with everything these to set out to do, it was beautifully organized and stunningly arranged. The show took place in the farm barn, built several years ago by Amish workmen. The loft section of the barn held the dozens of pieces of artwork that were for sale and the stalls on the lower level were filled with vendors appropriate to the event. In the art, local scenes were much in evidence, including numerous horse, hound and hunt scenes,  some of Baltimore’s landmarks, and others of Maryland’s stunning Eastern Shore.

Pieces ranged from the serious to the whimsical, including these clever pieces, which I loved.

The vendors included Halcyon House Antiques, with a selection of reverse-painted hunt scenes, which were so fascinating. You can see how the painting is done on the glass and so it’s almost three-dimensional.

There was also lots of fabulous jewelry including a range from Gogo Jewelry cast from elements in nature found on Cumberland Island, which Gogo’s family used to own. There were pieces as diverse as rattlesnake jaws and starfish.Another artist I really liked created horse’s heads from pieces of driftwood. I loved that the artist could see the images in the wood. As I wandered through the barn, I saw that so many of the pieces that I loved had already sold, which was great for the Valley’s Planning Council, but not great for me.

The piece that I loved the most was one of the most simple ones. What looks almost like a piece of African art depicting an antelope is really a piece of tire! So simple, so clever. It’s by Leonard Streckfus, who also did the little dog and elephant pieces above.

Visiting Halcyon Farm was a great way to spend some time on a chilly Sunday morning.