Unusual Barn Art Has 3-D Effect

Take a close look at the accompanying photos. You'll discover that the doors are closed, yet they appear to be wide open and filled with chore-time activity of life-like people and animals.

This clever and mischievous bit of deception has made Timothy Crawford's farm, near Shoreham, Vt., one of the best known and best marked farms in the community.

"We've had hundreds of curious visitors stop by to take a second look, and to shoot pictures. It's a neat way to draw public attention to your farm," he told FARM SHOW.

Using closed wooden doors as a canvas, artist Ashley Wolff created the 3-D scenes on the doors of six different buildings on Crawford's farm. "First, we took Polaroid photos, using real people and tame, halter-broken animals as subjects. Ashely then used these photos as a guide to paint each scene," Crawford points out. "The fake doors she put into the pictures have an open, animated look."

If anyone wants to try their hand at this type of barn art, Crawford recommends that you start by scraping off all of the old paint: "If you don't, the paint will start peeling in a couple years and you'll have to go back and have the painting retouched," he cautions.