Our human heritage is just as threatened as our natural heritage. This is sad, because we are losing the reminders of our roots and a time when craftsmanship and care were more important than today. I am fortunate to live in an area where much of the landscape is as it has been for at least the last century. Although I usually choose nature as the subject for my paintings, I also want to record the remnants of our history.

Bethel Chapel has the economy and simplicity of the pioneer spirit, but the finish of the molding and the care in detail show the respect for quality of work found in our forefathers. The Chapel has no air conditioning or central heating, and the present generation has no reason to use it. But it is kept up by a benefactor who is honoring the memory of an ancestor resting in the Chapel cemetery.

- Robert Bateman