In 1876, St. Clair County was described as "Its surface is sufficiently undulating to shed the surplus water, with few portions so broken that they may not be cultivated, and but little unprofitable land can be found.".  On this morning, I was standing in the middle of all that.  My subject is the Old George Wilderman Farm in St. Clair County, Illinois.  I was painting on location on the property of The Weingarten at address 780 East State Route 15 in Belleville, IL with the Missouri Plein Air Painters. 

Sunlight was creating long shadows across the corn fields and highlighting a small white outbuiding at the base of the silo.  I also noticed the long outbuilding at the rear. 

On this morning, the sun was out, but the forecasted cloud cover was quickly approaching, so the race was on to capture the sunlight's effect.  My primary goal for this piece was to depict the rolling farmland of Saint Clair County, IL.  The old silo is my center of interest, so I placed the richest and most varied color in that area.  Further, to unify the composition I borrowed from Cezanne and his subseries of three Mont Sainte-Victoires.  I contrived numerous curved lines in the compostion (trees, clouds) that repeat the curve of the silo top.  Thanks 'ol George for your masterpiece!