SSA SAUK AU UK KR RAPIDS APIDS AP IDS HERALD ID HERA HE RALD LD | SSA SATURDAY, ATTU URD R DA AY Y, MA M MARCH ARCH RC R CH 2, 2, 20 2 2019 0 019 19 9 | Pa P Page age ge 1 1B B
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Sauk Rapids Herald
SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2019
Stay repurposes farm wood for art BY ELIZABETH HOAG STAFF WRITER
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FOLEY – Forty-four years ago, Ginny Stay decided to make Foley her home by moving from Sauk Rapids to her husband Allan’s family farmstead. Together they raised a family and took care of their dairy herd until retirement four years ago. With Stay’s newlyacquired free time, she has been able to focus on her lifelong passion of painting – a hobby she discovered in grade school. Stay has let her creativity flow through her artwork using an assortment of mediums on a variety of surfaces. “Between raising four kids and milking a dairy herd of 90, I really didn’t have time to pursue my passion of painting,” Stay said. “Not until after we retired.” Living on 600 acres, the couple still cares for a herd of steers and maintain outbuildings, one of which collapsed five years ago, giving Stay materials to work with. “One of our wooden corn cribs collapsed from old age,” she said. “It was just a pile of rubble. After discussing it with my husband, I salvaged the wood I wanted to use and began using it as my canvas.” While incorporating her farming lifestyle with her artistic passion, Stay has since used the wood from
brush PHOTO BY ELIZABETH HOAG
Ginny Stay sits at her kitchen table Feb. 25 holding a portrait she painted at her home north of Foley. Stay started painting in high school but picked up the hobby after retiring four years ago.
her disassembled corn bin, a neighbor’s old barn wood and has gone onto purchasing barn wood for her craft. With each piece of wood, Stay examines the shape and size, letting it determine what she paints. “I look at a lot of photos when it comes to my paintings,” she said. “But, the wood also speaks to me.” Within the past four years, Stay has painted around 200 pieces, some for herself but most of them for others. “I have painted
farmsteads, livestock, pets and flowers,” she said. “I have sent my work as far as Sweden.” Many pieces of her artwork have been displayed at Southway Greenhouse and Floral in St. Cloud as well as Jordie’s Trailside Cafe in Bowlus. Stay also paints wildlife, motorcycles, flowers, witches and portraits. “My favorite thing to paint is portraits,” she said. “I start on the eyes. If I can get them right, everything else comes easy.”
The gifted artist believes the eyes in a painting are the center focus of a portrait. “When painted right, the characteristic of the person is captured through the eyes,” she said. Stay can capture characteristics and features of people, animals and things by painting on wood, but also canvas, ceramic tiles and stones. “I work with a lot of different materials, even stain glass,” she said. “But, my favorite material to work on is wood. The wood
absorbs the color, bringing out different shades you can’t get from straight paint.” When working on a project, Stay finds herself spending countless hours in her workshop in the basement. Whether it be on wood or canvas, she plays with acrylics or watercolors. “I spend a lot of time in my basement,” she said. “My workspace isn’t glamorous, but it’s convenient because I know where everything is.” As Stay sits down with
Stay page 2B
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