VIENNA — On a cold and snowy day before Christmas, Charlie Buntsma of the Kenner area of Maries County, was driving on Highway 28 when he saw a nice scene on a county road. It was a young man bundled up against the cold, who was driving a Farmall tractor with a Christmas tree tied to the seat of the tractor.

It was a quick glance but the image had lasting quality for him. He thought about it and knew that he liked it. He approached three artists about painting the image for him. A neighbor, Clifford Oesch, accepted the challenge.

“I asked him to do it and he said he would try,” Buntsma said. The result is a really nice piece of art that Buntsma used as a Christmas card in 2020. It’s a Farmall tractor with a cedar tree attached to it and the tractor driver is waving his hand to all those who look at it. It’s a snow scene with an old house in the background and features trees dusted with snow. It’s very beautiful.

Buntsma liked the painting as soon as he saw it, although the painter had his doubts about it. Buntsma took the finished painting to Staples and had about 40 Christmas post cards made from it. Oesch took Buntsma’s concept and brought it to life within about 24 hours. Oesch, 72, began painting about eight years ago. He likes to do it on poor weather days when he has to stay inside. He likes to paint mainly landscapes and seascapes and gets his ideas and inspiration from looking at magazines, photos and websites.

He studies works of art and takes what he likes from them and makes his own painting. He might take a sky from one painting and put it with a landscape from another one. His medium is acrylic paint, which he sometimes combines in mixed media with pastels or pencils. He buys his supplies at Hobby Lobby in Rolla and his canvasses are 16x20 and smaller. The one he did for Buntsma is about the size as a standard piece of paper. He keeps some of the paintings in his home and gives away others to relatives and friends. Buntsma said Oesch would not take money for the painting he did for him.

Oesch said he didn’t like how the man turned out on the painting. “I didn’t like the face on it. I don’t do people very well,” he said. Buntsma said he liked everything about it, especially the good job he did with the landscape. When asked about the house in the painting, Oesch said he made it up and possibly painted one like it before so he included it on the Buntsma painting. That house could be an old Maries County homestead as it fits the style of this area 100 years ago. There might be a dog under that porch.

Clifford Oesch and his wife, Karen, moved here from Arizona in 2016. His father had purchased land in Maries County but became ill and couldn’t do anything with it. His father gave the land to one of Oesch’s nephews, who was going to use it for hunting. It’s three acres and it is pasture. It was not the best place to hunt and there are neighbors nearby who wouldn’t appreciate it. Oesch came to this area looking to buy land. His nephew said his father had given him the land and he wanted to give it to Oesch and he did. They built a house in 2017 and they’ve lived here ever since. He likes the quiet and peacefulness of the area and enjoys sees deer, wild turkey, rabbits and squirrels.