Katherine Whipple, age four, shows an example of her mom’s and Agnes’ work. Photos by Bethany M. Dunbar
BARTON — Heidi Whipple has a fine arts degree in painting from the University of Massachusetts.
“My dad was a dentist, and I always wanted to be a farmer,” she said in an interview at her new home, the former Pellerin Farm on May Farm Road.
Ms. Whipple figured out a way to merge her two passions by creating art with a favorite cow, a young Jersey heifer named Agnes. Ms. Whipple leads Agnes through paint and then leads her onto pieces of paper. The result is abstract art that shows hoof shapes within it. Thus was born Art by the Hoof. Examples can be seen at her website, www.artbythehoof.com
Ms. Whipple met her husband, Everette, after graduating from the college. She took a milking job in
Heidi Whipple and Agnes are the creators of Art by the Hoof. The Whipple family has just moved to Barton.
Morrisville. Mr. Whipple was farming down the road.
“We have been working collaboratively ever since,” wrote Ms. Whipple in a flyer she produced to explain Art by the Hoof. I’ve never met a harder working person in my life. He had just started on his own with seven milking cows. But with hard work, persistence, and PATIENCE, ten years later, we have 80 Jerseys and Holsteins. I am determined that if we have made it this far, anything is possible. It is a tough way of life, but it has so many rewards.”
The couple have two young daughters, Katherine and Sami.
“I hope others will enjoy the results as much as Agnes and I have enjoyed the process,” Ms. Whipple wrote.
Agnes the Jersey heifer is the creator of Art by the Hoof, along with her owner, artist Heidi Whipple. Agnes and her family have recently moved to the former Pellerin farm in Barton.
Agnes was born on New Year’s Day 2002. She was chosen to do the art not for her creative eye, but for her calm temperament.
“When I started she was six months old,” said Ms. Whipple. “She just seems to like it. She doesn’t mind. Others were scared and nervous. She was a good sport.”
So far Ms. Whipple has made about 80 paintings. She sold 16 in 2003 and only three so far in 2004, but she had to put it on hold in order to concentrate on moving.
“My goal of all of this is to pay the taxes,” she said. The paintings are $100 framed if bought directly
This is an example of Art by the Hoof. Photo courtesy of Heidi Whipple
from her.
Ms. Whipple currently has a show hanging at the Union Bank in Morrisville. She has exhibited at the Univerity of Massachusetts in Amherst, the Chateau de la Napoule in La Napoule, France, the Tegu Art Gallery in Morrisville, the Copley Art Gallery in Morrisville, and the Stowe Family Practice in Stowe.
