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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1984-03-26, Page 16-���/�� ° . ^ ' Moorefield and ArthurWednesday, March 28 1984 - - r��n'� `1.0 °,. ^� • r~� • ��� 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. ", • 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." ° - -- 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 . . ."