This painting is 36" x 48" and is an interpretation of a slide my grandfather took somewhere along the Blue Ridge Parkway. The tobacco featured in this image is Burley tobacco and is typically grown in the mountain region. However, currently Burley tobacco as a product is becoming more favorable for tobacco farmers because the leaves get higher prices than flu-cured tobacco. The Burley tobacco is harvested by the stalk and hung in the barns to dry whereas the flu-cured tobacco is harvest by the leaf, stacked in drying containers, and then cured through heat (hence the name flu-cured tobacco).
This image was taken in 1963. The three young children have worked the day and the sun is setting to the far left. They stand in a field of grass that softly contrasts the hard angles of the tractor and wagons storing the Burley tobacco. I have estimated that the boy in the middle is the oldest and is most likely about 12 or 13. It is obvious to me by his dress and stance that he is in charge of his younger brothers and together they share a good bit of responsibility in managing the farm.
Once the Burley tobacco is harvested, the community gathers for a chicken stew party which involves music, beverage, and chicken stew simmered on an open fire in a large cast-iron kettle.
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