July 30, 1938
graphite pencil on commercially-made unlined paper
9 1/2 x 11 1/4 inches
Burchfield Penney Art Center courtesy of the Charles E. Burchfield Foundation, 2000
July 30, 1938 Saturday ; P.M. all of us to see “Mr. Deeds goes to Town” at the Lafayette, brought back after several years. At the first showing several years ago, I had gone twice, enjoying it as much as the second time as the first. I wondered whether I would think as much of it, after this lapse of time. But if anything the picture looms even better; it stands out more clearly as a superb achievement – and certainly we enjoyed it as much or more.August 18-20, 1938-; ; Trip to Irondale-; While looking at my 1920 picture of Irondale, I felt I had the germ there of a larger more important picture; and I suddenly was obsessed by the desire to look again from the hill where I made the study.; Hurriedly packing (with Bertha’s aid) I threw all my materials in the car, and by 3:30 was on my way. There is little to record of the drive to Youngstown, as I drove at top speed, and found no interest in the flat country, my mind being full of Irodale (sic). I ate a nice dinner at a wayside restaurant, and arrived in Youngstown after dark, about 9:00 PM, where I secured a room at the Todd hotel. I took a short walk out over the Market Street bridge to relax myself after the drive. The steel mills in the big valley below were cold & silent.Aug. 19 – I chose a leisurely route to Wellsville, going down thru Columbiana to Rogers, where I turned off to visit Clarkson below which I had found a romantic woods in 1918 (a pine grove fringed with oaks) where I found my first yellow ladies slippers, and the only wild pink strawberries I ever found. At Clarkson however I