The Danishman's Place

The Danishman’s Place | 7”x 5” | Oil on canvas Panel
 
Chris the Danishman came to the US in the 1930’s and lived in this two room brick house the rest of his life. The house had one light bulb in each of the two rooms and no indoor plumbing. There was an outhouse in the side yard facing the street. When using the outhouse Chris would often not bother to close the door and would wave at the rare motorist who happened to drive by.

Chris always wore blue overalls. Though he never married, in later years he did often walk down the street on Sunday afternoons to visit a widow and watch TV.
 
Chris grew raspberries in the yard. He seems to have believed that busted rock chips in the soil were good for growing raspberries. Chris would spend days sitting outside on a stool with a hammer tapping away at rocks. Men now in their 60’s have boyhood memories of that constant tap, tap, tapping.

Chris took up ten inches of soil from the ground where the raspberries would be planted, added the rock grounds to it, then put it back and planted the raspberries. He grew a good crop of berries.
 
"You should have the Art you Love"