HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1984-03-26, Page 16-���/��
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' Moorefield and ArthurWednesday, March 28 1984
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EXPERIMENTAL WORK—Sometimes when he's frustrated or restless, Ed Krauter
says he w0oitdomnandpaint000nethingoYffenpnL,AmmngnnonypaintinAnate«ked/n
his studio are some like the woman and the abstract shown here. When it comes to
painting, Krauter says he'lI never stop learning.
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RENOVATED HOUSE—Ed Krauter and his wife Kendra renovated this faun house
which is lo.cated on Huron County Road 1 9 on the curve justf Ethel. Many
of Ed Krauter's paintings depict what he refers to as "the disappearing rural land-
scape of southwestern Ontario".
There isn't anything spectacular about
Huron County Road 19 leading from the
Village of Molesworth to the Village of
Ethel. It's a drive thropfh prime
agricultural land. Like most country roads
in the snowbelt area of Southwestern
Ontario, in the winter it has its spots where
heavy drifting can give an unaware motorist
a few anxious moments. But nothing
spectacular.
Nothing that is, until one comes to the
well-defined curve just south of Ethel.
There, on the other side of the pavement,
close to the road is a house surrounded by
trees. A big Ontario [urrnbouoe, built in the
grand manner with lots of vvindowa, a
steeply pitched roof and a large front
verandah. Painted a lively yellow with
brown tri,o, it's a real show — or traffic
stopper.
With towering evergreens at the back and
huge hardwoods at the front, the house
which somehow manages to look both im-
posing ud invidn0, probably does more to
slow th*trufbcutdbe8thelcorperthanuny
traffic sign could he to do.
In slowing down to admire structure, one
cuo't,lep but wonder what kind^of people
live here. And how could they bear to leave
such ahome?
Stuck in the snow on the front yard of the
house is a Canada Trust For Sale sign. It,
like the house, says something about the
man :who lives here with his wife and three
children.
Up until a year pr so ago Edwin (Ed)
Krauter was a successful, young farmer
�hioovvnan and doing
custom work for others. Then,"like so many
others, he got caught in the squeeze betWeen
high interest rohea, a demand loan at the
bank and decreasing prices for farm
produce.
"1 just don't like to talk about it," he says
"1 don't Ubeb�uAun�y--l`m not
' of .
that kind
It didn't help that when push came to
shove, Ed Krauter and his wife Kendrwere
in the process of remodelingthe large farm
house which they bought about five years
ago.
"We decided to go ahead with it There's a
lot more to do yet, of course. We started the
work in 1982 and moved in in March of'8n
COLLECTOR'S PLATE—With assistance from David Carson of RR 3, Listowel, Ed
Krauter has a decorative plate on the market. It depicts Mennonite blacksmith Dave
Jantzi in his shop. A second plate will show the blacksmith shoeing a horse —, the
master painting for that plate hangs on the wall of Krauter's studio. •
We opened it up, knocked dowowaUo--wo
wanted lots oflight."
And they got it. The downstairs kitchen
and living room area gjows in the afternoon
sunlight spilling in through windows and
glassed doors. The natural light and neutral
coloring of the walls enhances the two most
noticeable features of the rooms — the
woodwork and .furniture and the numerous
paintings.
The paintings are everywhero, framed
and hung with obvious care on the waUo,
unframed and hulf'dooe, stacked against
chairs and in a corner.
At forty euns of age, forced out of far-
ming.}CdKruuhechuuhudtotcybiuhandat
something else.. So he has turned to
something he has done all his life.
Something he watched hisgrondfuther do.
Something he first did for a living after
graduating from Listowel District Secon-
dary School.
econ'durySchool. _
Ed Krauter is back to trying to make it as
a full-time artist.
' ^^l've.painted uUnoJUfe�There was never
a�n�eldkdn'ipuirt.^
As a child he painted the things he saw
around him. Upon graduating from high
school he headed for New York C\tY`*hene
he worked for two years in the commercial
art 5o{d%nd at the same time studied art at
the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn,'
Back Home ,
"My father had all dhin\andbod lgarne
back tuhelp him.''Edsaid.
He doesn't regretUhenoovo even though he
liked New York and got to know a lot of
people e who are now proving to be
not only good friends, but who have con-
nections which are useful to Ed Krauter.
on'nectionowbichureuueb/\toEd}{ruuter.
During his farming years he kept on
paintin8, mostly during the winter when he
wasn't busy in the fields. He painted the
rural countryside he knows so well and the
cliifdren of friends and his own children,
^'l gave the paintings away�as gifts —
people Seemed toappreciate Chem''
Ed doesn't give pantings away toddy He
can't afford to. What was an absorbing
pastime has become his Iivelihood
"Doors don't just open. &| least that iynA
the way it works for me. The way it is, you
end up spending as much time trying to get
your work known as you do painting."
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From farming to painting
1'II
_yMarion
=r~on D=U
e
His favorite medium is water coloand
while he says he doesn't wantto be
"I guess right ,now I'd have to describe
myself as a cealiot, although I'm always
experimenting. [ feel as long as 1 live, I'lllearn."leuco�
8eprefers water color for \tetranslucent
quality and because itd� Uly.
,l work in acrylics sometimes too. ldoo't
like working with oils, although the quality
of color in oUpuiot is hard to match with
acacrylics."~cu�
Much of Ed Krauter's work deals with
subjects as familiar to his friends and neigh
horuuatboyuretohimu.&Watorculortohio
living room et first glance appears little
more than a typical rurul, winter scene, a
farm house and shed with a sagging iro
fence in the foreground. Upon closer
in-
. upeodonhovever the paintingiuu:ooment
what is happening in rural Ontario.
.
The house is deserted, the power lines
ea8gio8, and the apple trees in the orchard
have been butldozed over.
- '`l drove by it one day and to me it
represented what is happening all over —
the family farm is becoming a thing of the
past. l just hate to see these beautiful old
farm homes being left empty. 1 guess that
was one of the reasons we bought this place.
It was empty and if somebody didn't fix it up
soon it would be too 1ate,'
Another winter scene depicts a faded red
McCormick tractor, laden with snow outside
an old wooden barn.
^^l got the idea for that painting whn l
saw' a tractor out behind Glen Jackson's
houue--thut'uC\onJaobaon'xtrmxtor."
A painting he's now working on depicts a
group of rural men, sitting around passiflg
the time ofday.
4'Thmy^'reall men lknow --ruyfather and
hriendocKbim."
Collectibles
Sometimes the parnting of the familiar
can lead in unexpected directions.
"1 did a water color of a farm auction Iast
spring. David Carson was the auctioneer; he
saw the painting and bought \t "
David Carson of Carson's Auction Servjce
of RR 3, Listowel, Iatel asked Ed Krauter to
ARTIST AT WORK—Ed Krauter of Ethel has been painting all,
of his life but only lately decided to do it full time. He describes
bimself as a realist and his favorite medium is water color.
.
stop l
corne out to take some photographs of an
eight -horse hitch which he was working out
for the first time. Besides taking pictures of
the eight -horse hitch, Ed took a number of
photographs of Careoh'o six -horse hitch.
One of those photographs wound up on
David Carson's calendar which he had
printed for 1984.
. I'd like to do more of this kind of work
(photographs for calendars), or other
comniercial photography. It's another thing
working vn."Edsaid, pointing to a new
Flasselblad camera he has invested in.
This year he's also ventured into the field
Of coUecdb\e, decorative plubes, with the
assistance and encouragement of David
Carson.
''</ was something I didn't much
ubout.''Edcmn[eSsea.''Tbeoctworbwuotbe
easy part. Getting the plate produced was
aometh\uAeoe.^^'
Edwin Krauter's first collectible plate,
depicting a young, Mennonite blacksmith
working at his anvil will be available this
spring.
' "The blacksmith is Dave Jantzi of
Millbank. Anyone who knows him
recognizes him immediately."
To get his two-tone plate manufactured
. Ed, after running into one brick wall after
another in this country, resorted to
*„ telephoning a friendvv
in �eYorbvvhuput
him in touch with people in East Palestine,
Ohio.
^l
wanted to do it here, but it just didn't
work out, so l ended up taking it to the
Stohe.^
The decorative plates are a separate
business from his paintings and will be sold
under the label of Rural Impressions and
Collectibles Inc. The original painting for a
second plate already hangs in Ed s
' workroom downstairs justm/ the kitchen.
^l'dhardly call itautudk).^hegim�
The painting shows the same young
blacksmith shoeing a Belgian horse. It's no
accident that the horse is a Belgian. David
Carson breeds some of the best Belgians in
North Amerioa and Ed Krauter is fumiUur
with the bteed.
Does Edwin Krauter ever paint subjects
outside his surroundings",‚
"Oh yes -- 'and I'm doing more ofit. When
I gtt [rustrutgd sometimes 1 just start
• Krauter
something,"
oBe goes ver to a stack of paintings and
pulls outan
abstract and a painting of a
rather hughty looking young woman.
"She started out as a nude, but looked
better with clothes on," he laughs. "I'm not .
that bodi "
Is there anything he doesn't like to paint?
Ed Kreuter reflects for a few moments,
his direct blue eyes thoughtful.
''1Quoa�I'm ukind ofromantic utbnmrt,"
he says finaily. "1 don't paintoouuy women
. l want them hulook beautiful, not only
because that's what they want, but that's
what I want. I'm not being flippant about
that. I just turned forty, and I'm having a
hard time dealing with that. I guess I have a
hard time being realistic about age."
Not surprising, Ed Kratiter's hero in the
world of art is Picasso. ,
"He wasn't af raid" to try new things. Look
how his style changed over the years.",
tsOne of the best water color artists ac-
cording teEd was an American, Sessions.
"Iie's long gone now, but in his day.his name
was up there with Georgia O'Keeffe."
Of artists today he admires the im-
pressionistic work of another American
painter, Charles Seliger who is known not
only for his technique and imagination, but
In MP's Office
Ed Kreuter readily udodt . "I'm not a
cautious person," adding somewhat
ruefully, "which is maybewhy I'm where 1
am today". However the samdrive that
made him a successful farmer for nearly 20
years is now pushing him ahead as an artist.
His paintings hang in the Ottawa office of
Huron -Bruce MP Murray Cardiff, in
Listowel Memorial Boapita\, in the office of
the Elma Mutual Fire Insurance Co. in
Atwood, and. Ward &0pd8rovoo[Listowel.
Be has exhibited his work at Rothmans
Gallery, London, in the Eaton Centre in
Toronto, and at Classic Art in Stratford. His
work is for sale u|»n^in the Blyth Saga, at
Helen's Place in Listowel and at the
Framing Experience in Kitchener. He has
exhibited at Art in the Park in Stratford, at
Kurtzville Country Gailery and at the Trade
Fest n Brussels.
He even attended uhorse showln Toronto
with samples of his collectible prate.
"I felt kind of silly being- there, but Dave
be a good idea. A
lot of people stopped to (Carson) thought - taik and seemed
interested. 1 don't know, 1 guess it's worth a
try..,
Asked if he considered it something of a
challenge to make his living as a full-time
artist after being forced out of farming, Ed
Kreuter declares, "No. I enjoyed farming. I
really did. And I was good at it — I made a
lot of money — a lot. And we spent a lot. For
example, I like nice cars and I drove a Mark
IV Lincoln. It isn't easy to give mp those
things."
Ed is equally candid about the support he
gets from his family.
"What choice do they have'? When I was
farming Kendra worked hard. We have
three children. But she never had to work
outside t_-__--_-___~
pened. Now
she works for Universal Draperies and I'm
not sure she likes heading out to work every
oo,rohnQ.^
The Kreuter children, Michele, 14; Kelly,
9; and Curtis, 6, have watched their father
int all their lives. A painting of the two
girls, done about five or six years ago never
leaves their bedroom.
"They won't let me hang it anywhere
elue." says their father with obvious
pleasure. .
• Family ties rdstrong iuotbmrdinomdnoe~
too. Ed's father, Welland, now 83 years old,
lives nearby in the Village of Ethel and
drops in most days for a coffee and a visit.
"I like to see him come. He's great
company. He keeps busy and so does my
muon`."
On the wall in ineut position in the
room in which he works is anoil painting not
done by Ed Krauter. It is a country scene of
a farmer and his dog herding the cattle
hon.- The sky is the dramatic sky of a
Turner, or a Constable.
"That was painted by ,my grandfather,
Charles Foss," said Ed.•"1Ie studied under a
British master. 0 still have a number of
his paintings. I think he was good. It runs in
the family."
As for that For Sale sign in the front yard,
the Kreuter family doesn't really want to
leave the big house, do they?
"We'd hate to leave," Ed admits, "but if
the right offer cornes along . . ."