The Painting That Made the Pastor Scream
Philip Koch, Summer, Owings Mills , oil on canvas, 16 x 18 inches, 1974 I found a wide open hilltop in the backyard of a church with a great view overlooking the hills in Owings Mills, MD. This was one of the best pieces I made that year. But it comes with a back story that in retrospect is pretty funny. I had set up my easel on a bright windy day. The sound of the wind pretty much drowned out everything else. The painting was proving hard to do and I was becoming more and more exasperated. Finally my temper snapped and I abruptly grabbed the canvas off my easel, and cursing loudly, threw it as far as I could out into the field. What I didn’t know was the pastor of the church had seen me painting and had come out to see what I was doing. He came up to me from behind as things were going from bad to worse with the canvas. At the moment he reached out to tap me on the shoulder to get my attention I lost it and hurled the painting. I managed to scare him enough to scream. And