Blog Tour: The Art of Farming by T.D. Motley

THE ART OF FARMING:
 A Novel
By T.D. Motley

Fiction / Agriculture / Nature / Stewardship
Publisher: Stoney Creek Publishing
Pages: 144
Publication Date: August 26, 2024

*** SYNOPSIS ***

Sam Bartlett’s formidable antagonist has four legs. Sol, a miniature donkey, schemes daily to outwit his kindly caretaker. This delightful rural drama regales with a symbiosis of plants, humans, dogs and livestock, with wild creatures observing from secluded, weedy perimeters. 

Retired from teaching, artist Sam farms thirty acres. His popular paintings of vast prairies at sunset are selling well. He plans to market organic herbs and produce, hiring local after-school teens. Begrudgingly raised on a farm, he once swore that when he grew up, he’d never go back. Time and age break promises.

Elysia boasts a pretty town square, complete with a handsome county courthouse. Sam’s girlfriend, Annie, is a food writer who travels a lot. Bartlett Farm is her sanctuary.

The Art of Farming is a hopeful tale about stewardship of the land, the animals, and of each other. It honors the integrity of agriculture, as expressed in ancient literature and art. 

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*** REVIEW ***

A perfect way to look at farming: With an artist’s eye. 

All my life I wanted to live on a farm and only got to do that in later years. But reading this book reminded me of the absolute pleasure of being in a rural setting where you could stop and take moments to appreciate all of the gifts of nature. The happiness that Sam Bartlett finds in his farm, his animals, his friends, his partner, the land is so evident in every scene, every moment he spends on God’s green earth.

While I didn’t go into full organic gardening like Sam, I was always conscious about not using chemicals on my little patch of ground. I did a lot of composting and neighbors had chickens and would share the great fertilizer their droppings make. I appreciated reading about Sam’s efforts to go all organic, and it was an education in how things can go right, as well as the challenges that an organic farmer faces.

Good stewardship of the land is a message that flows through the book, and that’s an important point. Farming methods that don’t rely on chemicals are so much better for the land and for the fruits of that land that we eventually eat. That message is laid out softly throughout the narrative, which makes it easier to grasp. No in-your-face preaching. 🙂

I also have a strong artistic bent, although my medium is more photography than painting, and I do believe that an artist may see the landscape just a little differently than somebody who is not an artist. When Sam was riding along the fence to check for breaks and stopped to “frame” a section of the landscape ahead of him, I had to smile. So many times I pause on my walks when something pretty or unusual in nature catches my attention, always thankful when I remember to take my phone along with me.

The author does a nice job of weaving the art and the nature together, and I learned some things about famous artists like Monet and Van Gogh that I didn’t know. How they approached their art and what happened when cataracts were removed and they could see the distinction in colors again. That blending of teachable moments with the rest of the story is smooth and just gives the reader a minute or two to absorb some art history, then we’re back to the lettuce and tomatoes and the chickens.

It was a real pleasure to read this book and meet all of the delightful animal characters. Sol, the miniature donkey, sure steals every scene, and there were times I had to chuckle at his antics. It is clear in the writing that Sam’s heart is given over totally to his art, his animals, his farm, and his family and friends. I suspect he has a really big heart.  

The sketches are quite lovely, and I would have loved to see more scattered throughout the book. And maybe a photo of one or two of the landscape paintings. The narrative “paints” beautiful pictures, but sometimes it’s nice to see what someone else saw, not just what’s in your mind.

The descriptions are so detailed and vivid, I “saw” many pictures – the raised garden beds in neat rows, the trees along the creek, the various buildings, and the animals. And at times I was sure I could feel that soft summer breeze sifting through the prairie grass.

This is just one of the wonderful descriptions that I highlighted throughout the book: “Barnes Country residents and their animals breathed a communal sigh of relief as the big yellow paint-peeling sun slid over to the other side of the world.”

There are a few editing issues, like introducing Sam’s daughter Liz as “the graduate-school student daughter” every time she appeared in the story. That became mildly annoying after time and took away from the absolute wonderful narrative used to share these experiences of a man who found a place where he could farm and paint and love.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Art of Farming and recommend it to anyone who’d like a break from hectic city living to spend some time in nature, enjoying all the peace that can be found in a rural setting. You don’t have to be an artist or a backyard farmer to find the literary vacation worthwhile.

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*** ABOUT THE AUTHOR ***

T.D. Motley writes about art and organic farming. Born in Beaumont, Texas, he has been drawing since the age of three. His family has farmed in Texas since the mid-19th century. For many years, he and his wife, artist Rebecca, marketed their organic, heirloom herbs and produce to North Texas chefs and farmers’ market customers.

Motley is Professor Emeritus of Art and Art History at Dallas College. His drawings and paintings have been exhibited nationally and are included in numerous collections across the U.S. and Texas. He has lectured at the Dallas Museum of Art, the Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum in Austin, the Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University, and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth. He is a contributing author for Eutopia and ArtSpiel and has written about mid-century modern Texas artists for DB/Zumbeispiel and the Grace Museum in Abilene. Motley has received Fulbright grants to Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

Motley is the past president of the board of Artist Boat, a Galveston-based nonprofit that teaches students about coastal nature through art and science. He served for several years as chair of the North Texas Fulbright Teacher Exchange Peer Review Committee. Previously, he worked as a printer in the U.S. Air Force, an illustrator for Ling-Temco-Vought Corporation, and a cartoonist for the infamous Dallas Notes from the Underground newspaper. His artworks can be seen at J. Peeler Howell Fine Art in Fort Worth.

WEBSITE ◆ LINKEDIN ◆ INSTAGRAM ◆ ARTSPIEL

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