"Chrysanthemums" -- plein air oil on canvas -- 8x10" My friends and I had spent the morning painting at Proud Lake and they all left for lunch. I decided to drop in at Sunshine Herb Farm just down the road to check on my friend Heiner Hertling, who was filming 2 shows for his upcoming PBS series, "A Brush With Nature". He was busy painting the red horse barn and chickens. They had a dead goldfinch going around, playing jokes with it, laying it on Heiner's palette, then putting it in the cameraman's van. We painters are always looking for jokes to pull on each other! I saw this bunch of white daisy chrysanthemums and decided to paint them. They smelled so fresh and the bees loved them. It was a gorgeous day, sunny and fairly warm. The colors seemed to jump out with vibrancy, especially the green grass. We'd had lots of rain lately (which was also good for the wild, edible mushrooms), so it was a good day for 'shroom hunting as well! I came home Saturday afternoon with 3 paintings and a basketful of grifola frondosa (a.k.a "hen of the woods").