Pennsylvania Farms — In Clay
Thanks to the Brandywine Museum of Art staff for the opportunity to attend a plein air day in October (2024) at the historic Kuerner Farm in Chadds Ford.
“Chadds Ford Barn” — Clay Monoprint & Acrylic © Andrew T. Smith of Visual Realia, LLC.
“Farm Field with Flowers” — Clay Monoprint, Watercolor, Colored Pencil, and Acrylic Marker © Andrew T. Smith of Visual Realia, LLC.
Thanks to the Brandywine Museum of Art staff for the opportunity to attend a plein air day in October (2024) at the historic Kuerner Farm in Chadds Ford. Andrew Wyeth created over 1,000 works based on people, places, items, and scenes from the farm over a seven-decade period, including over two hundred works with images of Helga Testorf, who was employed at the farm.
A new exhibit focusing on images from the farm is scheduled to open at the Brandywine in June 2025.
I did not take my clay monoprint materials but captured many photographs during the day. While not an attempt to capture the farm literally, the two clay monoprint mixed media works shown here were inspired by the visit. They are currently on display and available for purchase at York, Pennsylvania’s Creatives on King, located at 104 E. King Street, York, PA.
Kuerner Farm, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. Photograph © Andrew T. Smith of Visual Realia, LLC.
All works copyright Andrew T. Smith
Visual Realia Exhibit at York's Out Door Country Club
Visual Realia’s (Andrew T. Smith) exhibit at York’s Out Door Country Club
Thanks to the ongoing efforts of Creative York, I have an exhibit of approximately two dozen clay monoprints and photographs at York’s lovely Out Door Country Club. The exhibit runs through July 12th, 2024.
The hallway-based exhibit area naturally allows for sharing monoprints on one side and photographs on the other, essentially providing two mini-exhibits.
For more information on the exhibit, visit the online article on the Culture On The Line website. Works may be purchased here.
“Clay & Pigment” by Andrew T. Smith
Out Door Country Club
May 13 - July 13, 2024
1157 Detwiler Drive, York, PA
Enter Through the Center Doors
Curated by Creative York
All works copyright by Andrew T. Smith and/or Visual Realia, LLC.
"Under the Ridge" Up for Auction
“Under the Ridge” by Andrew Smith of Visual Realia
In 2018, Hanover Against Hunger packed close to 120,000 meals to be distributed worldwide where needed. This amazing local group raises funds for the project locally, including a silent auction of fourteen artworks.
My entry is "Under the Ridge," a 24" x 20" look down toward the town of Gettysburg from Seminary Ridge. (The building shown is part of the United Lutheran Seminary.)
To bid on the work or see the others available via auction, visit:
https://hanoverareaarts.com/auction-gallery/
You may also view the works in person at the Hanover Area Arts Guild, located at 32 Carlisle Street, Hanover.
To learn more about Hanover Against Hunger, visit their website at:
https://hanoveragainsthunger.org
It's a wonderful organization with an impressive reach. Volunteer or place a bid!
A Working Kitchen in the Mansion
Food, food, and more food. Better yet, food in a working kitchen in one of Hanover's landmark buildings.
H.D. Sheppard and C.N. Myers started the Hanover Shoe Company in 1899 after planning to both manufacture and sell their own products via retail stores that their company would run. The first store was opened in 1900 in York, Pennsylvania.
Their families began construction of “twin” neoclassical mansions in 1911, designed by Philadelphia’s Herman Miller. The Athenaeum of Philadelphia holds numerous architectural drawings of the projects.
I was fortunate to photograph the working kitchen of their wonderful restaurant on three occasions during the period between 2009 and 2010 at Hanover's (Pennsylvania) former Sheppard Mansion. A gallery of photographs from these visits is available for viewing. All photographs were shot during typical evening food service, and plated items shown were as-prepared for guests. (Or “in progress’ photographs.) Lighting was limited to the room's lights and one flash unit, mounted on-camera.
Many thanks to the owners and kitchen staff for their indulgence. And here's the gallery!
Vanishing Village
Nestled between Hanover and McSherrystown is a small village with a vanishing name.
Entering Adams County from the York County Line, Pennsylvania
There was a time when drivers traveling between Hanover and McSherrytown on Route 116 would pass small signs noting the village name of Midway. Businesses noted the name. Today, visual remnants of the name are seldom found.
Midway, located in Conewago Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania, borders Hanover (in York County) and McSherrystown. It is considered an unincorporated census-designated place, or a CDP. The United States Census Bureau considers CDPs to be a concentration of population for statistical purposes only. This areas have boundaries that tend to be softly defined and have no legal status. The 2010 census determined that Midway has a population of 2,125, which includes members of my family.
The signs noting your entrance to the area have been removed, and very few signs noting the name can still be spotted. As time goes on, explaining the location of your house as being "in Midway" has become less helpful. Midway, it seems, is a bit of a vanishing village.
Image by Ruhrfisch, used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
Midway Tavern, Hanover/Midway, Pennsylvania
360 Photos on Visual Realia
Visual Realia is capturing area photographs with a 360 degree view.
An interactive 360 photo as shown in a Facebook post.
Google's 360 Photos are a new way to immerse the viewer into any location. A sphere-shaped image is created and shared in a way where the audience can move around the scene in all directions via a movement of a smartphone, a finer swipe, or mouse movement. On some devices, the user can soon in and out of the scene.
Facebook has now utilized the same technology on Facebook 360 Photos, and the two work together.
Visual Realia (Andrew T. Smith) is now sharing numerous Hanover-area 360 photographs on its associated Inside Hanover Facebook page, and even more are linked from his site's 360s page, which can be found at the top of each page or via a click here.
A 360 photo as it appears in "flattened" form.
It's not possible to view this 360 photo of the Electric Map directly in this web page, but you can view it in interactive form in the Facebook post linked here. They may also be viewed in a web browser visiting Google Maps or in the Google Street View app for iPhone or Android.
Have a Google Cardboard viewer? (If not, you should get one! Quite fun.) Using the viewer in conjunction with the Street View app fields a three dimensional experience that puts the viewer right into the scene.
Check out the Visual Realia 360 photos now!