When they talk about strawberries, they talk about Oregon strawberries, and when they talk about Oregon strawberries, they talk about the ones grown right here at Albeke Farms in Oregon City, Oregon, USA!!!!! To this day I cannot find a better, tastier, redder, cleaner, more perfect strawberry. This farm holds a particularly special place in my heart—as a kid we used to come here and pick berries almost every summer in June, and take home buckets of fresh berries to make into every kind of strawberry-flavored thing from jams, drinks, syrups, creams, cakes, pancakes, and pies—with plenty more to simply eat by the handful and put on top of ice cream (my favorite).
When I realized their farm nearly looks like a literal strawberry from a birds' eye view—I knew I had to paint it. The pinks and reds clearly visible were so inspiring—and I had the most fun making all the fields huge on this 30 x 40 inch painting. 
A really old picture from a heck of a strawberry bounty hand-picked at Albeke Farms
The farm as seen on Google Maps that I used as a reference image
Outlining the painting, and working on several abstract pieces at the same time. 
WIP
Painting the letters... This was the first time I used this particular typeface for the lettering of my paintings, and since then I have continued to use it for other paintings. I love it for it's elongated form and nostalgic feel. 
Finished! 
I decided to gift this painting to the folks at Albeke Farms. They were so excited to see the painting, and they let me hang it here to get some initial pictures. Now, it's hanging on the wall inside their farm shop, right next to all of their fresh berries. It warms my heart that the painting gets to live right where it belongs. 
Love the way the letters turned out...
Since gifting the painting to the farm, I've had this piece in one art show with Blanchett House, and sold 4 prints! All 4 prints have been 18x24 framed in a 24x30 gold frame like this one pictured above. This piece has been quite a hit and it's been teaching me more about what people are gravitating towards, in terms of wanting a painting of a farm that not a lot of people even know about. Should I paint more farms? I think YES!
