Tractor Art Sells Like Hotcakes

Tractor Art Sells Like Hotcakes 30-6-9 Dale Heinen knew he had found a good thing when his painting of a rusty, old Farmall F14 was the first thing he sold at an arts and crafts show years ago. Since then he has painted and sold more tractors than anything else. The former 6th grade teacher credits his tractor-restoring brother with helping him get serious about tractors. "He gave me a list of classic tractors he thought I should paint," says Heinen. The tractor artist says his payback is more than money. "A guy will ask, æCan you paint a Farmall H or a John Deere H for my dad?'" says Heinen. "Later they will come up and tell me,"æWhen I gave it to him, he had tears in his eyes.'" Heinen has painted a few tractors on canvas, but his best-sellers are painted on barn board. He also paints on æshelf' fungi, handsaws, milk cans and slate. One of his most unusual pieces was an old wooden dustpan he found at an estate sale. He painted a John Deere tractor on the inside and mounted a 1/64- scale toy on top. "Christmas tree ornaments really sell well in the fall," he says. Heinen says he doesn't get rich on his paintings. He expects he averages only $5 to $6 an hour. But he enjoys the interaction with people and the'"Yankee" trading that goes on. "My neighbor, who collects Allis Chalmers tractors, makes homemade wine, so I traded a painting for some," he says. "One guy asked me to paint three Corvettes on a big 2-man saw he had shined up. I painted an old gas station with hand pumps and an old billboard next to them. He gave me eight saws just like the one I painted, and I said "æWe're even.' Life is too short to worry about the monetary part." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dale Heinen, 140 S 1st St., Kiel, Wis. 53042 (ph 920 894-3093).

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