New Wheels

New Wheels began as a plein air painting and was completed in the studio. Like many of my agricultural paintings, this work explores the passage of time and the ways it shapes my family’s farm. The painting depicts a young man loading a brand-new semi with corn while an older man, leaning on a cane, watches from the ground. Beside him sits a pile of old tires, which were once used during his own farming days and now left behind as a reminder of the past.

The older man is the young farmer’s father, watching as his son loads his “new wheels.” The contrast between the new semi and the discarded tires represents the inevitable progression of generations. As the farm moves forward, the tools, technology, and people change, but the land and the memories created on it remain. Through this moment between father and son, I wanted to capture both the progress of agriculture and the quiet passing of one generation’s role to the next.