The Tiller of the Earth - a sculpture of a farmer

I really enjoyed creating this sculpture on the subject of farming. When I receive a sculpture commission, I start by looking for a model. I found an excellent model who happened to be my next door neighbor. When I asked him if he would pose, he said he had always dreamed of becoming a farmer. Such serendipity!

I also look at other sculpture on the same subject. This piece by Paul Landowski in the Tuileries gardens in Paris France greatly inspired me.

I placed my farmer in a horseshoe shaped form on which I sculpted two medallions in bas-relief. One of corn, the other of soybeans. On the base of the piece is a bas-relief of the first American steel plow.

The sculpture was cast in bronzed resin and placed in front of a school in Illinois.

The Farmer, by W.D. Ehrhart
...
I don’t complain—except
to passersby who ask me why
I work such barren earth.
They would not understand me
if I stooped to lift a rock
and hold it like a child, or laughed,
or told them it is their poverty
I labor to relieve. For them,
I complain. A farmer of dreams
knows how to pretend. A farmer of dreams
knows what it means to be patient.
Each day I go into the fields.

Hope, Steemit community, that you enjoy this post. Upvotes, comments, resteeming, all are welcome.

My website: www.kathleenscarboro.fr