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There’s Art in Them There Fields

Featured· Roadside Attractions

The wild, unruly fields of Texas.  When settlers first came to this land, they found an unforgiving, stubborn landscape, and with an equaled stubbornness, they tamed the land.  Trumpeting the determination of the early Texans, those angry fields produced an abundance of wealth and prosperity as cotton and oil sprang forth. But there is something else growing up in the fields of Texas that has nothing to do with wealth or prosperity or even good sense.  The fields of the Running N Ranch in rural Saint Jo are growing art.*

         *read with grit and drawl ala Clint Eastwood.  Try it, it’s fun!

It began as a way for rancher Earl Nunneley to spend his retirement, but when his installations began to draw a cult like following, especially among motorcyclists, he began to think more about his audience.  Using telephone poles and junkyard finds as big boy’s tinker toys, he has constructed a menagerie of works that have been hailed by critics in the genre of folk art, but are considered by neighbors to be just plain crazy. 

As you step through the cattle gate and over the cow patties, you’ll see the most prominent piece in the collection.  Fourteen telephone poles jut dramatically out of the earth in a fan position, creating a single shadow when viewed on the vernal and autumnal equinoxes.   Just beyond that, the expansive view across the field is broken with the protrusion of a giant pair of cacti and what could be the world’s largest weather vane. 

Playfully scattered across the pasture are a quintet of VW bugs that are clearly way past their prime, but have been given new life with a coat of ladybug paint and the addition of legs and antennae.   Blooming right alongside the whimsical bugs are a row of giant sunflowers composed of airplane rotary engines.  A new coat of paint each year keeps them looking fresh.

Whether the collection is an applauded contribution to the world of folk art or the creations of a retiree an air bubble off plumb,well, that is in the eye of the beholder.   Standing in the field gazing upward though, you can’t deny the je ne sais quoi that comes over you.  Perhaps Earl’s brother said it best.  “It’s just one of them things.  He wanted to do it, and he done it.”

~To visit Running N Ranch, take Hwy 82 from Gainesville towards Saint Jo.  Turn south on FM 677 and drive about 1 mile toward the middle of nowhere.  If you see the house with the three legged dog on the porch, you’ve gone too far.  You’ll see Earl’s art from the road and you can find parking where Earl moved his fence back for his fans.  Just let yourself in the gate, but be sure to close it behind you so you don’t let the cows out.~

Check out more travel photos at Walkingon Travels for Friday Postcards

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Comments

  2. I don't know which of these shots I like the most but I'm particularly drawn to the rotary engine sunflowers.  I love everything about the first photo.  Beautiful!  Recycling is a good thing.

  4. Spontaneous art, gotta love it! This is very cool and something I'd like to see if I'm in the area. Gainesville… that's not too far from Dallas, right?

  5. These are great pieces! You've got to applaud Earl for following his dream and to do a little recycling along the way.

  6. I love the bugs!  You continue to surprise me with your posts about Texas – there is so much more to the state than I ever realized there was.

  8. Wow those look amazing. Amazing photos also. The bugs get my vote too. We came across something like this on a smaller scale in a little country town in Australia. One artist had filled his farm with sculptures of giant ants attacking cars, metal flowers and huge sculptures.

  12. That's pretty impressive. I might side with his neighbours and think he's crazy, but I'd still go out of my way to take a look. Great job with the pictures!

  16. Since I'm not much of an artist – well actually not an artist in any way – I never understand people's motivation for urban art like this.  But I have to say, a retired rancher doing it for fun on his own property is kinda cool!  Good for him!

  19. That is SO cool! I love it! That man is surely creative. Love the bugs in the field. I have to feature this at tomorrow's Oh Snap! party. 🙂

  20. How cool! I wonder if they got some inspiration from the Cadillac Ranch 🙂 I think I prefer this though.

  22. Love this! My fave is the cacti. Good for Earl Nunneley creating such cool works. Great photos and I like the directions to his ranch.

  26. I saw your pics a few weeks ago on FB and I was dying to know where you were!!  I LOVE it!!
    Thanks for sharing with it  and yes, totally read the whole article in "Clint"!  HA!
    ~Becca

  28. New fan, I just wanted to tell you when I click on your stumble icon it says page not found.  No biggie I just thought i'd let you kknow.  I'm enjoying your pictures.  Look forward to following more. 

  31. Ha, that is so cool! I would love to see that on a roadtrip. Actually in my opinion, roadtrips are the best way to discover a country, you see so many odd things!

  32. It’s a good thing I didn’t read this post before our trip to Texas. I’m certain that I would have coaxed my family into driving miles out of their way just to see those bugs! And I’m also certain that it would have pained them greatly. You should have heard their protests over our Cadillac Ranch stop!
    Tonya {The Traveling Praters} recently posted…Save $3 on your Next Groupon PurchaseMy Profile

  35. I can see my son spending his adulthood putting together something like this. There are so many wonderful photos in this post, but my favorite part is “if you pass the house with the three-legged dog on the porch…”
    Michele {Malaysian Meanders} recently posted…Up on Penang HillMy Profile

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