Going Green

2001 - Prismacolor Pencil - 24” x 36”

This is a special painting with a bit of a story. In 2000, there were some major “tractor wars” and John Deere aggressively worked to win competitive customer’s over to John Deere. I imagined what this scene may have looked like, where a competitive owner was trading in their red combine and taking delivery of their new John Deere Combine, thus – Going Green.

I am honored to have had a photo and brief story of my painting included in the worldwide John Deere employee publication of the JD Journal, Volume 30, Number 3, Fall 2001.

I will also say that I no longer have this painting. In 2008, I donated it to our company’s annual United Way auction to raise funds for that year’s campaign. When the bids got up around $350, the President of our company, stopped the auction (which as the President, I guess you can do that), and he said, “since this was painted by one of our own employees, he was buying it on behalf of the company for $1000 and placing it on permanent display in our office.”

I’m honored to say that this painting has hung ever since in John Deere Financials’ World Headquarters in Johnston, Iowa. I am hopeful that in the near future, I may be allowed to borrow it back so I can get it digitally scanned for my website.