Behind the scenes with Crawford County artist Kit Miracle
The 90-acre farm of contemporary Impressionist painter, Kit Miracle, and her husband is set amidst a tapestry of pasture, wooded hills, cropland, tree-lined lanes and rolling farmsteads in western Crawford County. The area abounds in vintage country scenes that Miracle has often painted: bales of hay in an open field, men cutting firewood beside an old red farm truck, a boy looking for frogs in a pond – all part of the artist’s daily surroundings.
“I have been driving, biking, and walking across this neighborhood for 35 years,” Miracle said. “These familiar scenes exert their power, calling me to capture some impression, some moment that reveals a bigger story, or some deep truth about living in the country.”
“I have been driving, biking, and walking across this neighborhood for 35 years,” Miracle said. “These familiar scenes exert their power, calling me to capture some impression, some moment that reveals a bigger story, or some deep truth about living in the country.”
Miracle and her husband live in a 130-year-old farmhouse. Her studio was once the summer kitchen, a separate outbuilding used by families to cook during the warmer months – a way to survive the heat before the advent of air conditioning. The couple are retired and don’t actually farm – except for growing extensive gardens – but they do rent their fields to neighboring farmers.
Miracle’s painting, Night Reaper, depicts one of these renters harvesting corn at night, and captures one of those moments that conveys a bigger story.
“I took the reference photos for this painting sneaking around at 1:00 in the morning,” Miracle said. “The farmers will work all night if they need to get the corn in before it rains.”
In the painting, the fiery white lights of the combine transform the corn stalks into flames, while the corn dust – stirred up by the eerie machine – becomes a dreamy blue cloud of smoke. Like paintings of the French Impressionists, this painting celebrates the ability of light to alter our perception of color and shape.
In the painting, the fiery white lights of the combine transform the corn stalks into flames, while the corn dust – stirred up by the eerie machine – becomes a dreamy blue cloud of smoke. Like paintings of the French Impressionists, this painting celebrates the ability of light to alter our perception of color and shape.
Another feature of Miracle’s Impressionist style is her use of visible brushstrokes that look like paint swirls or blobs when examined up close. This loose brushwork gives the effect of spontaneity and effortlessness that masks a carefully constructed composition entailing several preliminary color sketches done before the artist even touches her canvas.
Color is one of Miracle’s strong points. Her painting, Pumpkin Head – made from photographs on her property – depicts a sun-drenched autumn scene full of energy. The colors convey the harvest and abundance. The light blue clothing of the young man and child in the foreground creates a soft counterpoise to the thin strip of brilliant blue sky. The burnt red farm truck in the background is allied with the pumpkins’ orange and various browns to express autumn’s magic.
This painting also depicts one of those moments that hint at a larger story. The sharp knife, just right of center in the foreground, could, in a different setting, signify danger, but here it is held carefully and used as a creative tool to further a tender, playful relationship between a little girl (there is a pink ribbon in her hair) and a young man.
This painting also depicts one of those moments that hint at a larger story. The sharp knife, just right of center in the foreground, could, in a different setting, signify danger, but here it is held carefully and used as a creative tool to further a tender, playful relationship between a little girl (there is a pink ribbon in her hair) and a young man.
Miracle’s own childhood in Richmond, Indiana is at the root of some of the feelings she puts into these country scenes.
“My paternal grandparents and great grandparents had adjoining small farms in Richmond where I was showered with attention and given the freedom to roam, play in the hayloft, climb trees,” Miracle said. “They instilled in me a love of small things: a bucket of tomatoes, sunrise over the hills, good storytelling and country living.”
Miracle was actually born in England where her mother had grown up. “Because we had relativesliving in Europe, we saved up to visit them, giving me the opportunity to travel and visit several museums overseas,” Miracle said. “I was also fortunate to attend a school system that emphasized the arts. My high school was attached to the Richmond Art Museum. I walked past famous paintings by William Merrit Chase and other Indiana painters on my way to class. The works of John Elwood Bundy, a famous Impressionist painter who had lived and taught in Richmond, could be seen all over town. I also sold my first painting as a high-school student.”
Traveling and visiting museums early in life gave Miracle new lenses to view the world. As an adult, she developed a passion for both. When she travels today, she also carries her art supplies to paint on site.
Traveling and visiting museums early in life gave Miracle new lenses to view the world. As an adult, she developed a passion for both. When she travels today, she also carries her art supplies to paint on site.
A recent painting done at South Padre Island in Texas entitled Exodus depicts a family leaving the beach, tired, after a long day. Their child, apparently not ready to leave, looks back wistfully at the ocean. The yellow and black striped bumble bee umbrella, with its perky antennae made to delight energetic kids, tells the story of what the day has been, and explains the exhausted expression on the mother’s face.
The former director of the multidisciplinary arts center in Jasper, Miracle has enjoyed a rich and diverse career that has brought national recognition for her paintings, but she is far from becoming complacent about past achievements. If anything, she is now painting with more vigor, experimenting more, investigating new colors, composition, and perspective. Her very recent “Dreamland Series,” she said “came to me in a dream with very bright colors, semi-abstract forms, nothing like my usual subject matter or palette.” She doesn’t know where this is going to lead but, for now, she said, “these paintings make me very happy.”•
For more information on Kit Miracle and her art, go to kgmiracle.com
Story by Judy Cato
Photos by Lorraine Hughes // Artwork pictured by Kit Miracle
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