William Fields Art Photography

Box of Bolts

I was exploring an old log barn that was going to be torn down. I found this wooden box that had been used for nondescript spare parts by the farmer who once lived and worked there. The image to me represents a way of life that is now gone and at the same time, there is an aesthetic appeal to the look of the thing.

Sunflower and Garlic Blooms

A few remnants of our garden that wound up hanging on a hook outside the kitchen door.

Sweet Potato Pi

A fibonacci that came about because my wife Louise had dug up some sweet potatoes she planted in an iron kettle on our deck for the foliage. The roots were a nice sidebar.

Tea and Oranges That Come All the Way from China

I have a friend in New Orleans who grows kumquats in her garden. She sent me a box of them and I composed this still life. The title is from the Leonard Cohen song, so beautifully sung by Judy Collins. The fruit was made into a proper marmalade.

A Girl on Her First Date

My wife picked this peony for me and put it in my bathroom on top of the toilet tank. When I saw the shadow it cast and the warm light from the bath fixture, I knew that there was an image I had to get with my camera. The picture was used to remember our friend Miriam after she passed away.

A Gown for a Faerie Princessbrtpfltwrm60-DSCF3073sm

In Hermann, Missouri, where I live, there is a florist with a wonderful artistic soul. Owned by Lucy and Terra, the shop created this gown from mosses, tree bark and other natural fibers. When you come to Hermann, be sure to visit Terra Flora.

Amarone and Blood Oranges

For those who appreciate wine, no explanation is necessary. For everyone else, Amarone is a beautiful Italian wine made from grapes that have been left on the vine until they almost become raisins. The richness and complexity of this wine was enough to inspire a still life, for me.

Grandpa's Glove

Dodge-Old-Shoe

I found an old barn out in the country where there was an old car and other bits. The decrepitude of the shoe caught my eye.

Aunt Pearls Mandolin

My Aunt Pearl played the mandolin in a hillbilly band in the town of High Coal, West Virginia. She bought that mandolin from a guy who came over from Missouri for ten dollars and a blackberry pie. She was known around High Coal for her pies. They would always bring top dollar at the church auction. Those coal miners loved her pies almost as much as I did.

On Saturday night, she and four other musicians, a guitar picker, a fiddler, a gal that sang and played the harmonica and a guy who plucked the bull fiddle to carry the bottom would get things jumping at a local roadhouse called Sharpie's.

Aunt Pearl could sing too, but she wasn’t the star. She’d sing harmony and take the occasional lead on Wildwood Flower and later after Patsy Cline was on the Arthur Godfrey show, she’d take the lead on Walking After Midnight. She had a voice that was as clear as a church bell on Sunday morning and she could make that mandolin talk.

Sharpie’s sold beer and had pool tables and if they knew you, you could get a mason jar of moonshine from a fella in the backroom for a dollar and a half. On Saturday night, if you got there early enough, you could get a slice of Aunt Pearl’s blackberry pie.

One night a fight broke out in the middle of old Hank’s Jambalaya. For a half a second the band stopped and tried to protect their instruments until Aunt Pearl yelled “Keep playing!” They played on while those coal miners busted chairs over each other’s heads and one guy got cut up with a broken beer bottle.

The sheriff was already there. He instantly deputized a couple of the soberer looking customers and before too long they had things under control.

Aunt Pearl gave Sharpie and earful and because of her willingness to speak up the tavern got its first bouncer before the next weekend. It was a shame the band had to lose their bass player, but he was the biggest guy in town. And, as part of the deal, Sharpie got a free pie on his birthday.