Serving large plates of comfort food in a country cafe setting, Mayberry has a sunny patio and a cozy dining room. The restaurant caters to just about everyone: families, singles, couples on a date and teenagers.

Add "art lovers" to the list of Mayberry's patrons.

Maybe everyone in town knew that Mayberry is a mini-gallery, using two of its walls to display photographs and paintings. I didn't.

I learned about this added reason to visit Mayberry when I went to check out former Palisadian, Daniel Edlen's Vinyl Art, on display until Oct. 10.

Edlen paints his portraits not on canvas or velvet (as his website notes) but on vinyl, on his subject's actual records. Although not exhibited at Mayberry, Edlen also paints portraits of authors on books.

From the brief bio on his website, Edlen attributes his love of music to his dad, and his love of literature to his mother. By happenstance he worked at library booksales and bought the LP records that didn't sell. Because he ended up with more than one copy of records he liked, he decided to use them as his "canvas," thereby marrying his passion for painting with his father's love of music.

The challenge of accurately capturing the likeness of well-known artists on the black background of an LP, is an example of how technically accomplished Edlen is as an artist. The paintings are remarkably arresting.

Edlen has a good eye for the facial details that epitomize the musicians' well-known features. He acturately captures the essential qualities of his subjects, including Johnny Cash, Eminem, Dylan, a young Michael Jackson and Jimmy Hendricks.

So, along with Mayberry's large platters of comfort food, take the time to look up and enjoy the installation of "Vinyl Art". 

Be sure to follow Pali Patch on Twitter and "Like" us on Facebook.