Harvest Shelf

Merrill Coffin’s Harvest Shelf is a quiet meditation on the textures of rural life, a still life that speaks volumes about memory, work, and the poetry found in ordinary objects. The composition is anchored by a rustic planked wooden wall, its weathered surface telling its own story of age and endurance. To the left, part of a window allows just enough suggestion of light to hint at the world beyond, while directing the viewer’s gaze inward to the carefully arranged shelf.

Upon this simple wooden ledge sit tools and tokens of daily labor: a copper bucket with its warm, reflective sheen, and a plain, utilitarian pail. But it is the far right of the shelf that commands attention—a humble Campbell’s Tomato Soup is repurposed with nails. This detail embodies Coffin’s affection for found objects and his ability to elevate the mundane into something emblematic of resourcefulness and life’s continuity.

Hanging from the shelf, an apple harvest basket evokes the rhythms of autumn, a season central to both farming and family traditions. Nearby, clusters of Indian corn dangle from a metal wire, their husks drying in muted tones of cream, rust, and gold. Some cobs rest casually on the floor below, bridging the scene between the structured shelf and the grounded earthiness of the barn interior.

The balance of objects—both practical and symbolic—creates a visual narrative of thrift, sustenance, and seasonal cycles. Coffin’s brush captures not only the surface of these items but also the atmosphere of a lived-in space, familiar to anyone who has known the cadence of harvest time.

In Harvest Shelf, Merrill Coffin transforms the everyday into art, offering a portrait of resilience, memory, and the simple beauty woven into rural life.

Private Collection of James Coffin.