RURAL REVERENCE
Print Size: 16.5" x 22"

Ray's Framing recommendation
1.5 inch gold moulding.
Top Mat: Mystic Blue
Liner: Medium Gray w/black core.
Total frame size: 21.5" X 28".

With a deep reverence for the countryside, I have long painted the rural landscape and the man-made structures found there. Numerous small churches along our country roads exemplify the deep faith and beliefs of area residents past and present. My eye delights at the uniqueness of each local church. Like snowflakes, there seems no two are alike—each has been personalized by the community it serves.

When the early settlers moved to the Ohio Valley in the late 1700s, they brought with them a myriad of religious backgrounds. Their church became the center of their community. In the embrace of these rural churches they shared births, marriages, deaths, and much of their daily life.

The subject for "Rural Reverence" is located in Starlight, a small community in southern Indiana, but is typical of rural churches throughout the country. Starlight is located atop the agricultural plateau just north of the Ohio River valley. Early German landowners built their first church in 1861, a log structure named for St. John the Baptist. My painting features the building erected in 1913 of concrete blocks hand-made on the site.

St. John's church is a gathering place for the people of Starlight today in the same fulfilling way it has served many generations before.

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RAY DAY
ray@rayday.com