Cross over

This is a framed artwork which measures 70x100cm unframed and 75x105cm framed.
It is very light since it is painted on foam board

I did it plein air during a one month stay at a cow farm in Normandie (France). I only used red, black and white since I was more interested in the atmosphere than in the actual green and blue local color.

It was a small family farm where there was also a little cottage to rent out. This path in the painting is where the cows crossed twice a day in order to graze and to be milked. The buildings in the distance are the house of the family and the milking room.

Once I got to see how a cow farm works I stopped consuming milk products. The family was lovely and the animals were treated well. But certain things were hard for me to accept; for example: the baby cow is separated from the mother a few hours after it is born and they never see each other again. The baby is put together in a barn with other baby cows and fed by bottle; all the male babies are sold for meat after a few months; if a cow is not able to get pregnant she is sold to make meat and the same thing happens to the cows once they have had babies several times.