Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/899551
Heritage Matters 51 back and settle in the St. Thomas area. While I don't farm, I visit the farm at least once a week, and a large portion of my work either directly or tangentially references the rural culture I was raised in. Some of the farm videos I made when I first moved back feature my father's ingenuity at designing and building horse-powered farm implements that were either built from the ground up or creatively modified versions of modern farm machinery. I was incredibly lucky to grow up on such a unique farm and I hope that my sister and Aaron are able to carry on that tradition and the community that my parents built. My sister and I are both trying to share the farm with a wider audience. At the farm dinner, my sister made a hay and honey panna cotta that captured the heady aroma of a freshly cut hay field – she steeped clover, alfalfa and pineapple weed in milk to make a dessert that would evoke hay time on the farm. As an artist, my family farm is a grounding place. It's a foundation from which I can draw strength and inspiration (as well as sustenance). My hope is that my art and photography will inspire more people to take up farming or encourage them to seek out and support people who are. Grayden Laing is a St. Thomas-based filmmaker and artist. "Vegetable Medley" by Grayden Laing, Oil on Panel "Horse Logging" by Grayden Laing, Oil on Canvas "Carrots" by Grayden Laing, Oil on Panel "Iris" by Grayden Laing, Oil on Panel