By C. F. Lawrenson
The inspiration for this painting came from an old broken down bench located at the top of a hill overlooking Mansfield State College. I took several black and white pictures of it around 1970 and several years later I did a pen and ink drawing of it. It wasn't until 2003 that I decided to feature the old bench in a painting. The infamous water tower was located behind the viewer and part of the roof of Decker Gymnasium (which was under construction when the photos were taken) was visible from here, where the path goes down the hill. I replaced it with a barn roof off in the distance. As the campus grew and became known as Mansfield University, it gradually encroached on this Lover's Lane of the mid 20th century. Now, it is all but forgotten.