One of my favorite places is Lynd's Fruit Farm, just 5 miles from my front door in Licking County, OH.
The day after my friend, Ray's art opening, we decided to go out painting. The day was clear and a little crisp, perfect for painting, but we were a little worse for wear after a long night of "fun and games" at the Sharon Weiss Gallery and beyond.
We thought maybe there'd be a painting at Lynd's Fruit Farm. There would certainly be a lot of color in this season of plenty. But there was more than color, there were tons of people. We may as well have been back in India. We couldn't paint in the way of hundred's of people picking out their fruits and veg and waiting in line to pay.
Lynd's had a new sales tent, a startling lime green and white striped one; but, as thrilling as that color was with the outside light shining through it, inside it gave everything a strange green cast. 
We decided to take it easy on yourselves and paint somewhere else.
I next suggested Granville, about 8 miles further east. Ray and I both like to paint urban stuff, and Granville has a great Main Street with a lot of activity in town on a Saturday.
We drove up to the top of the hill where Denison University sits. I'd hoped to get a view of the town below. Too many trees, we weren't excited.
So Main Street here we come! We headed down, parked, grabbed the cameras and "cased" Main Street. My eyes were excited by the site of two umbrellas, red and light bluish green. I knew that was a painting. But we restrained ourselves and walked around a little before making the final decision to give that busy stretch of sidewalk filled with people and umbrellas a shot.
I painted over an old painting. Should have taken a photo of that painting, since the landscape in it is no more, but instead is now a Chevy dealership. As I set up my easel, I thought about how to simplify that busy scene. It took me quite a while to sort it all out, but in the end, the painting had a glow about it, and it had the publics seal of approval.
Will post it later, I am off for bed as we leave tomorrow for Stratford, Ontario and the Shakespeare Festival - and of course - some painting in between plays.
Day 3 of Ray Hassard's visit. We were invited by Sharon Weiss to attend an annual pot luck lunch on the farm of two artists, Paul and Nora. Many of the artists represented by Sharon Weiss Gallery came and invited even more painters and friends. I invited Edie Dean. And there were also patrons of the arts, and small children searching for the farm cats.
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