Sunny days seem far behind us as we enter December. While snow has barely powdered the ground, winter winds and cloudy days add a chill to campus. Cassie Baasch’s “A Poem from Home” reminds us of warmer days.
Her oil paintings, part of the 2016 Baccalaureate exhibition at the Memorial Union Gallery, feature images of her home farm by Oriska, North Dakota. Featuring cows, fields, horses and warm, sunny days, Baasch tried to capture her home on the canvas.
“I think home shaped me a lot. It’s one of the things I really wanted to show,” Baasch said. “With my color palate, I showed how warm and meaningful this is to me. Even thought it’s work, it’s really fun.”
Varying in sizes, Baasch’s canvases are of cows, tractors, horses and fields. Each depicts a job she’s had on her own family farm, from spring calving to working the tractors. Her paintings feature realistic textures and minute details that accurately display the subjects she chose.
“On average, for each piece, it took me 40 to 50 hours. I started in the beginning of September and finished in the beginning of November,” Baasch laughed. “It was a lot of work.”
Baasch also brought her paintings home each weekend so she could actually reference her beloved home.
“I had reference pictures. But then, most of the time, I just couldn’t get something right, so I’d go home and I’d look at it,” Baasch explained. “Then my parents, they work with the stuff more than I do, even. And they’re like, ‘Oh, this is wrong, do this.’ They helped me alter things so they looked just right.”
Graduating this fall with a degree in art and art education, Baasch hopes to teach art in middle school.
“Right before college, I realized that I really want to do something with art,” she said. “I switched around what I wanted to do with art, and I chose education. I started going to classes and it made me want to be a teacher. I really love art and how you’re making something beautiful.”
Baasch is one of four featured in the MU Gallery’s Baccalaureate exhibition. Her work will be on display, with the other three candidates, until Dec. 8.