Morning Chores Ghost Hill Winery

Ghost Hill. What an evocative name, and how fitting it seemed, the day my artist friend and I visited.

We were driving the gravel back roads of Oregon wine country in the fall, looking for views and scenes to paint. Painterly subjects weren't hard to find, but choosing from them was. We stopped and chatted at this "Mom and Pop" winery, Ghost Hill Cellars. They were just preparing for wine tasting visitors, and toiling through the daily chores. They were lovely people; we enjoyed hearing about their wine and old farmstead, meeting the protective dog, and seeing the fruits of many years — generations — of labor.

The weather was chilly, vines were turning red and gold on the rolling hillsides, and the fog was still making an effort to slowly rise above the treetops. In that cool misty haze, silence was deafening, save for the occasional crow's caw....which only served to accent the eerie stillness. We were welcome to mill about, peering into the family farm history through both purposed and unintentional openings in dilapidated barns and sheds. Working and derelict trucks and tractors of every vintage were everywhere, some housed while others were left to the ravages of time and the elements. Tall oaks all leaned one direction — as if they have spent a lifetime reaching for distant fleeting sun rays.

It was a productive day for us artists, so many vignettes and vistas worthy of recording, so much material for future works, to create both at home, and back at Ghost Hill. Not to mention the delicious bottle of wine I purchased, to be consumed on a stay-at-home weekend. A perfect ending to this painting chronicle.

Inv#5544