Max Middleton - Farms Max consistently refers back to nature for inspiration. His love of rural life dates from childhood excursions to the country, and time spent on farms. He admires traditional farm life, and believes the old farm sheds and barns of country Victoria, in particular, worthy of preservation. Max still loves to visit the countryside, but health restraints now restrict him from painting plein-air the frosty morning sunrises that inspired so many of his paintings of rural life.