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Spinach Harvest - Digital Painting - Dan Beck - 2005

Generally when I write - my inspiration comes from a choice of artwork - its implications or origins - but it is about the artwork - looking outward.

In an unusual twist, I am thinking about the climate of fear we live in. Living in Salinas (and even if I weren’t), I felt the hype over the 3 deaths and multiple illnesses related to E. coli tainted spinach a bit over the top.

I heard Jay Leno recently say that there were thirteen deaths caused by vending machines last year -

So basically there is over four times as much chance you will get killed by a coke machine than eating spinach - without even talking about health risks from too much soda.

Each year - approximately 35,000 people die in the U.S. of flu-related causes -

I painted the above digital painting - long before any E. coli spinach scare - it was a time consuming painting to go along with the time consuming task of harvesting. I have tremendous respect for these workers - they work incredibly long hours and just about always wave a hello if they see you - and most of them do work which no born and raised American would generally even consider let alone try.

So call me reckless, but I am more afraid of fast food than spinach, bigotry than illegal immigrants, and worst of all (in this climate of dwindling civil rights) - speaking up in a voice that might be heard.

See Also

• Death by Vending Machine - a tongue and cheek look at some of the stupidities in our world - but my take is “fear of litigation”
• Figures Art Gallery - original prints are available for all works in this gallery from 2005- in addition to this piece - others which were actually meant to be a bit dissenting

Impact and the need to create

Continuing with the theme of how art is created. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to show a work just created - "Spinach Harvest". Pieces on the blog won’t necessarily appear for purchase immediately on the website, but are being offered as something fresh and hopefully insightful. 

Surrounding my home are agriculture fields. Next door they are harvesting spinach. When I first looked, I noticed that the crew was on its knees in the wet fields bunching as they harvested. I thought about day in and day out harvesting spinach and what that must be like. The workers were energetic, goal oriented, quick and seemingly tireless 10 hours later.

The piece was time consuming to create, with all the workers, spinach, and details which I wanted to be right;  but only appropriate for such a subject. To be successful, I needed to create something beautiful, dignified, and a little difficult to watch. Our food supply requires real people working long hours generally unnoticed.

From an artistic perspective, I am not sure who this might come from, I choose to think it is original.  Although, there are undoubtedly many influences, I am including this piece by Claude Monet from the Museum of Modern Art as an example of use of multiple colors in mountains.

The truth is art comes from many places too numerous to choose from, but sometimes it tries to communicate something more than just seeing.

See Also

• Every Worker an Organizer, Part 1
  Photography and stories of farm workers by David Bacon
• The Farm Workers Website
  Education in the life of the farm worker
• The Daily Texan - Focus -César Chávez - migrant farmer to movent leader
  Some history in current news of César Chávez and the UFW