Resurrecting the Kauffman Mill

Kauffman's Mill, 22x45, oil on linen

Kauffman’s Mill was built around 1775 on the banks of the Shenandoah River near Luray, Virginia by David Kauffman, son of one of the original settlers in the Shenandoah Valley. The original structure stood for nearly a century before being burned by Union forces during the Civil War. A second mill was built at the same site after the war in 1866, only to be destroyed four years later by the Great Flood of 1870 that washed away every mill from the headsprings of the Shenandoah River to Harper’s Ferry, Maryland. Undaunted, a third mill was erected in 1871 and stood until 1972 when the ravages of time required its removal. The eighth generation of Kauffmans still reside at the mill site. Earlier this year I connected with a descendant of the Kauffman's who commissioned me to do a painting of the mill and the surrounding area as it appeared around 1910. He had done extensive research and taken hundreds of photographs. In the family archives he located many photographs from that time period and before. We worked closely together to establish the parameters. He wanted the scene to depict the grist mill, saw mill, and milldam as they looked circa 1910. The mills, milldam, and even the mill pond no longer exist. Dozens of old photographs and recent aerial photography were used to recreate the scene. The people canoeing on the mill pond are his grandparents and are shown exactly as they appeared in a 1912 photograph. The reflection of the Massanutten Mountain on the mill pond creates an image resembling a bottle laying on its side. The Kauffman family always called this the “Massanutten Bottleneck.” Below are a some of the source materials I used. I thoroughly enjoyed this project. My collector was a stickler for detail and an absolute joy to work with.  I learned more about grist mills, lumber mills, mill dams, and mill ponds than I'll ever need to know again.     My collector took this photo from the site where the mill originally stood. It shows the blues of the Massanutten bottleneck contrasting with the warm gold fall colors along the Shenandoah River.  This picture shows the mill with the lumber mill to the right. Later an awning was added as you can see in the next photo. Over the years the mill went through various design changes...sometimes it had an awning, and earlier, around 1895, the sawmill stood on the right, as in the earlier photograph.  Here you can see the Shenandoah River in the background and the pylons that supported the lumber mill, until it was destroyed.  My collector rendered this scale drawing showing exactly how the mill facade should look with the sawmill. This was big help in understanding how all the different parts went together.   The flour was put into sacks and lowered through an opening, down through a trapdoor on the awning roof to the scale below where it was weighed.  These are my collector's grandparents enjoying an afternoon canoeing in the mill pond. In the far distance over their heads, the actual dam across the Shenandoah is just barely visible. This photo is circa 1895 and shows the mill without the awning but with the lumber mill attached.               In future newsletters, I will share plein air excursions, painting trips, commissions, and other events.

Plein Air Painting at Fletcher's Boathouse

Plein Air Painting at Fletcher's Boathouse  Water's Edge, 16 x 20, oil on linen         Most of my landscape paintings begin with a plein air sketch at a park or some other favorite location.  On this fall day, I and other members of the Washington Society of Landscape Painters met at the historic Fletcher's Boathouse, known for fishing, rowing, and canoeing on the Potomac River near Georgetown in DC.         I have a long history with Fletcher's.  When I was growing up in the Maryland suburbs, my father owned an outboard motor and occasionally would load it into the old Chevy along with my mother, me, and a picnic lunch and head down to Fletcher's Boathouse, where we would rent a rowboat and navigate up the Potomac.  We usually discovered a spot on the Virginia side, where we could pull the boat up onto the shore, climb up the river's edge a bit, and have our picnic lunch. Lots of good memories.         Over the years, I have painted many times at Fletcher's. This particular day I wanted to paint the scene down river from the boathouse.   These are reference pictures of the scene I painted.  It was a gorgeous day, a little breeze, no mosquitoes, just a few other folks out fishing and picnicking.  This shows a little more of the Virginia side of the Potomac River and the colorful reflections.  The trees were just beginning to show their fall colors.  Above is the plein air sketch, where I combined the two scenes above. However, I thought the result rather ugly, particularly the foreground.  At my old faithful French easel, just getting started: my palette is still rather neat and tidy.            The painting River's Edge at the top reflects the changes I made to the sketch, incorporating elements from the two reference photos.        In future newsletters, I will share other plein air excursions, painting trips, and other events. You may expect a Nuss News from me the first day of each month.

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Twilight Time, Finished!

The Finished Painting

I have really struggled with this painting, getting it to a point where I liked it. I have now added the flowers and details to make this an inviting scene. I'm very happy with it now.  It makes a big difference to have the houses of a different size. I've put some lights in the windows so you know that someone is home.

Twilight Time, Step 7

Drastic Changes

After much deliberation and trial and error, I finally decided that I would feature the large house, so I made the one to its right a bit smaller to look more like a guest house.  I deleted the little cabin replacing it with a small rowboat in the reeds, so I still have the balance of the steelyard composition. I like the feeling of this so much better, as I have implied a story which anyone can read something into it.

Twilight Time, Step 7

Here I have developed the trees a little more, bringing them into focus.  Unfortunately the more I develop them, the less I like the whole composition. The buildings are competing with each other.  I need to decide which one is more important so that my eye doesn't keep jumping around.

Twilight Time, Step 6

Here I have developed the cabin a bit more, still trying to figure out if this works or not.  It's the classical "steelyard" composition where something small on one side balances a larger mass toward
the center.  Think seesaw.

Here you can see where I've worked on the trees, the sky, and the water reflections.  This really brightens the whole  painting. 

I have developed the trees and the cabin more, still trying to decided if it's going to survive its audition. I'm not totally in love with it yet, because it takes away the elegance of the home.  It makes it more of a farm.