Farmington - Carson's Super Market

John Cleaveland, a local artist and carpenter, owns the building and uses it as a studio. Farmington, which is a 30 minute drive from Athens, has seen land prices sky rocket as the college town, with its Atlanta mindset on growth, continues to creep closer to this community of 3500. John, who graduated from the University of Georgia in 1986, lives across the street from the Super Market with his wife and son. Land was cheap when he moved out here fifteen years ago but he wouldn't be able to afford it today. With NPR blaring inside the studio, John gave me a tour of his workshop showing me several paintings of rural landscapes he's working on. He sells his work in Asheville but I have a feeling he'd have no problem selling it in Athens or Atlanta. I asked him how he did this for a living and he gave me some great advice. He doesn't do it for a living. Carpentry pays the bills but this is what he loves to do. I hope to find a similar balance between a career in accounting and my passion for the South and photography. The murals were restored a couple of years ago and John plans to touch up the front and other side of the building when he gets the time. Can it get any better than this?