Lot Essay
Madeline Darrough Horn was a close friend of Grant Wood's and both collaborated on a volume of stories about two young boys, Bill and Tom and their adventures one summer spent on a small rural farm. Part of their experience on the farm was listening to their grandmother tell stories of when she was a small child. The present work was an illustration for one of the their Grandmother's stories entitled 'Deck', a short narrative about a precocious family work horse. Churning illustrates the beginning of the story which reads as follows: '"Grandma, let me churn awhile. You rest and tell us a story. Tell us something that happened when you were a little girl," said Bill. Grandma had been churning very hard, so she was glad to sit down in her rocking chair and rest.' (Horn, p. 31)