We had a few unseasonably warm days here in Ontario last week. It seemed like shame to spend those days inside, so I took my sketchpad, paints and brushes, and spent a few hours in the grass.

About five minutes down the road is a horse farm… well, a boarding stable for horses. It was still early morning and the light was falling in golden lines across the property. I plopped down, across the road from my chosen view, and painted.

The horses seemed nervous. They kept looking at me. Later in the summer I won’t be able to spend any time in that spot – I know from previous years that wild sweet peas climb all over the brambles bordering the road, and the bees like this (allergic to bees, I need to steer clear).

Painting this property went… okay.

Next, I moved to what was once the Craighurst General Store. Now it’s called “Dwellings” – still a small town store in a historic cabin-like house. I found a solid tree, leaned against it, and painted.

Customers showed up, and, disappointed to find out that the store isn’t open on Mondays or Tuesdays, they hung out with me for a bit – watching me paint and chatting. One of them really like my horse farm painting (I didn’t), and since he did, I decided to give the picture to the property owners. I am terribly uncertain about most of my paintings, but when someone else pronounces my work good, it mellows my feelings a bit.

Later that day, I found four people tucked into the dark interior of a small trailer on the horse farm. I’d wrapped my painting using an old Amazon envelope and they were confused and a little annoyed when, in response to the question, “Who’s the package for?” I kept saying, “Whoever lives here.”

In the end, they accepted the package and I ran, not wanting to be around when they opened it. By then, they knew what was in it. They entreated me to stay, but I was too shy. One of them chased me down the driveway (long and rural), shouting her thank-you. That felt good. 🙂