Susan Ginouves has had barn fever for as long as she can remember. She has also been dreaming of creating a barn book with her watercolor illustrations. Susan decided to start with a series of Harvard barn paintings and then take it from there. Watercolors are her favorite medium because she loves the way she can bring depth and detail into a painting by stacking colors. Her paintings are done from photographs she has taken here in Harvard. Two years ago she sold greeting cards of Harvard barns created from photographs that had been digitally tweaked through Photoshop.

Years back, Susan studied at the Museum School of Fine Art and more recently started taking advanced watercolor classes at the Worcester Art Museum. "My classmates and teacher are always excited to see what barn I plan on painting next. I am getting continued education in watercolors from a master, while receiving a huge amount of support from my peers. I look forward to going to class every week."

Susan has always kept up with her art, though it has taken different forms and mediums over the past twenty years. In the early 1980s, she painted on women's clothing and sold them in boutiques along the Hudson River in New York. Then when she moved to Vermont she became certified in Graphic Design at the University of Vermont. When her kids were very young, she worked as a freelance graphic designer where she lived in The Woodlands, Texas before moving back up to New England.

Now that her family has been living in Harvard for several years, the old feel of these barns has resonated in her again. She is happy to be back in New England, painting again and fulfilling her long time dream. "Over the years I have spotted many old barns that have interesting stories to tell us. I have captured these images from the roadside in order to preserve these wonderful storytellers. One of my favorite barns to paint is located on West Bare Hill Road; locals refer to it as either 'The Apple House' or 'The Cider Mill'. It was built in 1853. There was a sweep horse-hitch used to crush the apples and juice was extracted by means of a hand press. It is located extremely close to the roadside so that the horses and workers could process the cider and get it out to market in as few steps as possible. Later it was used as 'Aunt Elizabeth's' painting studio."

"People visit Harvard from all over to see our beautiful countryside and New England architecture. I feel that this is a piece of Harvard's history that should be preserved. Creating a painting of this barn is my way of helping to preserve it. The next time you drive around town make a point to search out our town barns; they're everywhere! Some are old and falling in, some have been renovated and in working condition. Harvard developed at a time and in a location where agriculture was the primary industry, and though most of the farms are now residences, the pace of redevelopment has been moderate, relative to other towns."

"Barns are a major part of our rural history. Along with the equipment and animals they held, they were a significant investment for the family farm. They were a center for work and play as well as a source of pride; the architecture can be as attractive as it is functional. My love of barns came from my love of traveling the back roads of upstate New York with my Grandmother Wheeler. I have special memories of rummaging through her old barn and finding antiques, she had stories for every single one of them. Every summer was spent there in Rensselaerville, New York, with my family at our summer cottage. Grandma lived close by and was always looking for a passenger to drive the country roads with her. I think my inspiration started there and believe that there will be a series of barns from that part of my life as well."

Her biggest influence and favorite artist has always been Andrew Wyeth and his son Jamie. She admires their subject matter and fine work in detail. Back in 1980, when Susan studied at the Museum of Fines Arts she was told by her professors to 'stop with the detail and pick up a bigger brush' ! She realizes, "I have learned that I like detail; always have and always will." However it is not always a simple task to capture the detail in these old barn structures. "In over half of my paintings I can say that the challenge was to get enough detail into the barn wood and scraping paint to make it look effective. This painting (left) shows a barn window on Lover's Lane owned by the Salters. It was especially fun because I used many, many layers of paint along with sea salt to get the effect of the old glass."

Susan's barn series is on display through December 30th, 2009 at the Harvard Public Library as part of the exhibition 'Barn Raising of a Different Kind'. Her paintings have been printed as greeting cards and are on sale locally at The Harvard General Store and The Fruitland's Museum gift shop. If anyone has interest in purchasing one of her paintings, please feel free to contact her directly through her website. To see more of Susan's watercolors, visit her website at http://www.susanginouves.com/.