Stars & Stripes Forever
An Illinois woman creates high-flying flags out of broken-down barns.
She’s 70 now, an age when many folks are starting to eye that comfy recliner in front of the
TV. But chances are if there’s an old barn coming down anywhere in northeastern Illinois, Marie Roth will be there. Clad in khakis, wearing leather gloves and hefting a circular saw, Marie will pick through the jumble of wood, looking for pieces that, as she describes it, “whisper” to her.
She’ll cart off the selected boards to her Long Grove home, where she’ll wash them and allow them to air-dry before fitting the pieces together like a puzzle and gluing them into place.
But it’s only when she starts painting the assemblage in the bold, beautiful colors beloved by every American that it becomes clear what Marie is creating. From the leftover scraps of broken-down barns, she fashions fine wooden interpretations of the American flag. Ranging from just 18 inches long all the way up to barn doorsized, Marie’s flags have a worn, homey quality that strengthens their visual impact and appeal.
Marie comes by her love of barn wood naturally. Her father was a carpenter, and her grandparents farmed in Iowa. She painted her first flag more than 30 years ago on a shipping pallet she found at a garage sale. The old pallet, she remembers, “just looked like it should be a flag.”
She’s a passionate amateur historian of Old Glory’s 27 official versions, as well as the famous unofficial ones she paints. And so each of Marie’s works comes with a handwritten note detailing the history of that particular flag. She sometimes even finds connections between the wood and some event in her customer’s own life.
Don’t count on Marie to slow down anytime soon. She’s having too much fun—and her flags now fetch between $125 and $1,200.
“Creating art is something I have to do,” she says. “I hope I die with a paintbrush in my hand.”