Family Farms

“Robert Michener’s farm paintings … are like a large format Book of Hours where man’s activities within nature are lyrically stated.”
—Roget Boulet, Curator, Burnaby Art Gallery

: Summer Wind Orchard Country — 75" X 67"

: Farms with Blue Lupines and Buttercups — 60" X 69"

: Gulf Island Farms — 51" X 62"

The paintings are created from imagination, although they relate in feeling and character to specific locations. I use patterns of fields, orchards and roads, grazing animals, clumps of foliage and groups of farm buildings in the construction of fanciful pictorial structures. I try to evoke an atmosphere of gentle interaction between the viewer and the painted landscape. I have chosen to work mostly with small family farms for the nurturing attitudes towards the land, reflected in them.

: North From 36th Avenue - Spring — 60" X 51"

: Hazelmere Valley Farms —40" X 30"

: Farms Near Saanich — 51" X 45"

: March Snow — 30" X 20"

“North from 36th Avenue – Spring” is a designated cultural property. It is in the collection of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.

: Spring Scarecrow

: Orchard Country — 75" X 67"

: Early Spring Farms — 64" X 50"

: South on Johnson Farm Road — 48 x 38

We see man working in the environment … Michener is telling us that we need the land, that we need nature. We need to utilize it in such a way that it is not destroyed for future use, either by ourselves or by our children … The estrangement of man from nature is regarded by Michener as the central ‘life problem’ of contemporary civilization.”
— Mary Fox, Curator, Burnaby Art Gallery

: Springfield Llama Farm, Spring — 56" X 75"

: Springfield Llama Farm, Dusk — 50" X 64"

: Springfield Llama Farm, Autumn — 42" X 68"

Both “Springfield Llama Farm, Spring” and “Springfield Llama Farm, Dusk” are a designated cultural property.
Spring is in the collection of the Surrey Art Gallery. Dusk is in the collection of Simon Fraser University.

: Early Spring Farms — 11" X 15.5"

: Hill Farm — 60" X 54"

: View from Our Deck October — 64" X 50"

: Late Snow In The Valley — 75" X 67"

The meaning of my subject matter is easy to understand. Farms intermingle with woodlands and wilderness to suggest an idyllic integration between man and nature. These are small farms where mixed farming is practiced. The land is nurtured. Domesticated animals live out their lives in fulfillment of their natures.

: Winter Morning with Highland Cattle — 68" X 76"

: Vancouver Island Farms, Spring — 68" X 60"

: Liz and John at Springfield Farm — 64" X 50"

: Langley Farms In Snow — 51" X 45"