No one probably had to teach Lawrence artist Stan Herd how to think big, but his work should be a constant reminder to his fellow Kansans of the value of allowing yourself to dream.

When Herd thinks of art, he doesn’t think in terms of square feet of canvas, he thinks in terms of acres of land. His latest project is under way near Salina. He is using tilled soil, untouched land and peat moss to create a depiction of a glider sketched by Leonardo da Vinci. It is intended to commemorate the GlobalFlyer, which will take off from the Salina Regional Airport on an attempted nonstop flight around the world.

It’s sort of one dreamer honoring another. You can just envision Herd hearing first about GlobalFlyer and then about Steve Fossett’s plan to start the flight in Salina and thinking, “I’ve got to be part of that.” With financial backing from another Lawrence resident, Jim Schwartzburg, Herd went to work on the 1.5-acre project.

Like any good artist or entrepreneur, Herd is willing to take some risks. He is, for instance, gambling on the wind blowing from the north on takeoff day so that GlobalFlyer will take off with its nose heading north into the wind. That would take the airplane right over Herd’s field and set the stage for some spectacular photos by the huge number of news agencies expected to attend the event. The unpredictability of Kansas weather also would seem to be a constant threat to Herd’s landscape work.

But, if you’re a big thinker, a dreamer, and you have an idea, you just have to go for it.

Lawrence and Kansas should be proud of Herd’s accomplishments and perhaps try harder to follow his example of dreaming up the big idea, then working to make it a reality.