I can’t believe December is here already and January is just around the corner. This means, of course, that it’s time to start thinking about the farm schedule for next year’s Artist to Farm visits which start up in February.  Usually, it’s Farmer Annie and me sitting down and going over her big list of farms. And now that I’ve been doing this for a few years I am proud to say that I have some of my own farms to offer to the list. What’s really interesting to me this year is the number of artists who have approached me with farm location ideas.  Just last week I got an email from an artist who was so excited to share a contact she made at a local farm stand and thought his property in Capay was a lead worth pursuing.   And another painter who drove by a farm in Davis that she’s always wanted to paint at but didn’t know how to ask. Or still another artist who met a farmer with interesting farm structures and equipment.

In fact, I followed up on that lead last weekend.  And get this - the night before, I was at a party and bumped into one of the plein air painter’s in the program.  I happened to mention that I was going to scout a new farm location the next morning and she asked if she could come too!  And I said, sure!  I actually didn’t think she was serious, you know how it is, but the next morning we confirmed and I went and picked her up bright and early and off we went.  It was fun driving out there with someone, especially one of the artists.  Plus, when we got there she asked great questions from the artists’ perspective when we were discussing details of the visit with the farmer.

It was a wonderful morning on so many levels… the farmer got to meet one of the artists and share his stories with an enthusiastic audience; the artist got to explore and get excited about a potential new location (and hopefully share her excitement with other painters) and I got to know one of the artists in the program a little better. 

YoloArts Art and Ag program is coming into its own when artists feel comfortable enough to chat up the program with farmers they meet and are dedicated enough to want to visit a farm early on a Saturday morning without their paints!