The Stories
Doris was deeply inspired by Andrew Wyeth’s sweeping landscapes, rich warm tones and luminous figures. Her pastoral work reflects these inspirations in their rich color palettes and almost glowing illustrative realism. As she became an accomplished artist she often turned to her experiences and memories and old photographs of the people and places of those early and mid 1900s. And her art recorded much of that otherwise forgotten history of ordinary people.
Cane Grinding
Doris loved the beauty of the countryside and fascinated by the people who lived there. As a child in rural Iowa, while moving from there to Orlando, Florida in 1922 in a Model T, living among the orchards and celery farms surrounding her as a teenager, and the living on a chicken farm in North Florida as a new wife and mother greatly influenced her joy and sensitivity to the beauty of the countryside and her fascination with the people who lived there. This piece, entitled “Cane Grinding” depicts the process of grinding sugar cane in order to prepare it for making molasses.
Unnamed Church
The unnamed church was central to rural life and may represent the faith that any farmers must hold close; that they and their crops will be able to survive until the next season and the following years. She also painted several friend’s own churches after they saw this painting.
Making Molases
In “Making Molasses,” Doris accurately depicts life on a farm. However, she added the background mountains for artistic effect.
After the Hay Harvest, Oil, 1983
“After the Hay Harvest” responds to her fascination with the beauty of a farm hay harvest we saw during a bus ride from Acapulco to Mexico City in 1983.