There are few feelings as warm as the feeling of accomplishment and nostalgia I receive from a nice project. I wanted to write about that this week.
I haven’t been to the Western Minnesota Stream Thresher’s Reunion in Rollag for many years. There is one display that really inspired me each time I attended, I call it the horse farm. It was a beautiful farm where all implements used were powered by horses. The horse power wasn’t so important except as a way to identify it and the fact that it was so quiet there. I remember when I saw it thinking that, “this must be what heaven looks like.” I have spent many hours at our farm trying to build those elements that reminded me of that moment. This decades-long project has been time well spent.
Projects that bump the nostalgia index include some facade improvements.
Each building here has a purpose which may or may not be obvious however it also has a facade. I want the facade to remind me of that horse farm.
Elements of the early 1900s are what I am really looking for; these elements would be cupolas, hay trolleys, color or architectural elements like gingerbread. If the design elements are also functional, that is a plus. I used to strive for this functional element, however now it seems like more work than it is worth. I’m glad that I worked hard to make it authentic.
I started a new project this winter, a diorama. This started out as an inexpensive way to collect the four wheel-drive tractors I always wanted, only in 1/64th scale. At first I only wanted to display the scale models but I then considered they should be allowed to tell their story. The display isn’t much to look at right now but I plan to grow it over the next few years. I have noticed that antique tractor collectors often include an implement with a tractor to tell their story. I think the best stories are told with mounted equipment such as cultivators or corn-pickers, however 1/64 scale 4wd tractors tell the story of old drawbar bull so I will find trailer cultivators, discs or air-drills for this project. It will take time to finish it as the reduction in scale does not transfer at the same rate to cost.
I sometimes wonder what emotion drives my need for projects. There is an obvious need for accomplishment that projects fulfill. There is something more sustaining about a project that represents an accurate memory or idea of peace or nostalgic perfection. It is the small scenes which I can project from my mind into a representative reality that I find the most rewarding.. To share my inner ideas through the quiet medium of subtle change that requires only my work and focus are a means to connect with that part of my memories that lie close to my heart but drift further away with each passing day.
