While looking for nostalgic places to paint, I was asked at a show if I had any theatres. South Bend, where I grew up, had several, so I took pictures of the buildings, which were still standing, I started researching the History of the theatres and was able to reconstruct them to the year of their beginning.
I started with the Palace Theatre in South Bend and eventually painted theatres in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Detroit and New Jersey. I also painted several Drive-in Theatres.
The Los Angeles Theatre, located at 615 S. Broadway in downtown Los Angeles opened in 1931. The inside was decorated with murals, mirrors and carved plaster and was made primarily for showing films. The theatre is equipped for live stage performances, as well as for showing movies.
No Prints Available at this time. If you are interested in a print of the original painting above, let me know, I am always looking for new good quality vendors!
Copyright Larry Johnston
Copyright Larry Johnston
Copyright Larry Johnston
Copyright Larry Johnston
Links to other covered bridge paintings I have done can be found here:
Plymouth, Indiana is the home of the famous Blueberry Festival, where thousands of people converge on the little town in northern Indiana. The Rees theatre has seen its share of ups and downs. After a long rest, the Rees Theatre is getting new breath, with the remodeling that has been taking place. It seems like the whole town is getting involved in its restoration.
While the theatre was in limbo, years ago, I painted this as a token to the town. While traveling from one show to another for years, I chose interesting places that the townsfolk could identify with when they viewed the paintings. The Rees Theatre was one of those iconic places.
While living in north Georgia in the 1980’s, one of my favorite Art shows that I attended, was in South Georgia on River Street in Savannah. The show was along the edge of the River, opposite all the shops and restaurants. The street was still cobblestone as it was decades ago. The buildings used to be warehouses, convenient for the shipping trade.
The painting is of one of the typical buildings made from stone and rock, at the north end of the street. The wrought iron stairs added to the historic ambiance. The rail tracks still run along the middle of the street, giving the area a nostalgic look of the early trade and transportation in Savannah. It was one of several paintings that represented my experiences in Savannah, GA.
We saw many boats and ships that docked next to us during the years we attended. One year, a Navy destroyer stopped for the weekend. Another was a tall ship, that looked like it was a pirate ship of the past.
Prints:
ALL PRINTS are printed on canvas and stretched on wooden stretcher bars and prices vary according to size ordered. Most are 2:3 proportion
Options:
wrapped print- part of the image is wrapped
around the sides of the wood.
Non-wrapped print- The full image is on the face, with white or black edges
(frames and hardware are not included)
11″ x 14″Black Edge………. $148.82
11″ x 14″ White Edge………. $148.82
11″ x 14″ Wrapped Edge………. $148.82
16″ x 20″ Black Edge ………. $204.72
16″ x 20″ White Edge………. $204.72
16″ x 20″ Wrapped Edge………. $204.72
16″ x 20″ ………. $375.00 original painting on stretched canvas not available.
At one time is my painting career, I taught a small painting class in Cartersville, Georgia. Some of the students wanted to paint pictures to go with their decor. One of the paintings, that would be suitable for a kitchen was a painting, I called “Roses and the Old”, showing an old coal bucket, a milk can and an broken down fence sitting in a field, with some roses just starting to bloom. This painting was a lot of fun, without my usual detail. The idea came from an old junk shop located in Pine Mountain, Georgia.
While looking for some antique items for subject material for paintings, we stopped at a broken down old farm house along the road, we called the junk shop, because there was not much in the way of valuable antiques there.. The sign painted on an old piece of wood which said, “Antiques”. The shop was located along a 2-lane road on central Georgia near the town of Pine Mountain.
There was nobody around as we walked around the outside of the building. As we were behind the home, a car drove up, and it was the owner of the property. As usual, the southern folks were as friendly and hospitable. I told him what our intentions were, that we intended not to buy anything, just shoot pictures of a few of the items he had laying around. He proceeded to give us a tour of the inside, showing us things that he thought we would be interested in.
After shooting the photos, we said our goodbye’s and we were on our way to the next art show. I painted several paintings from that junk shop. I call my set “Items”, which includes, the “Milk Can“, “The Lantern“, “Wickers End” (which is a broken down cane chair on the back porch) and of course this painting called the “Corner Shelf”. Sometimes I add another painting called “”The Broken Swing”.
Many times, I will add something extra in my paintings. “Corner Shelf” is no exception. I put a couple of my artists brushes in the jar near the back of the painting.
While looking for some antique items for subject material for paintings, we stopped at a broken down old farm house along the road, we called the junk shop, because there was not much in the way of valuable antiques there.. The sign painted on old old piece of wood said, “Antiques”. The shop was located along a 2-lane road on central Georgia near the town of Pine Mountain. There was nobody around as we walked around the outside of the building. As we were behind the home, a car drove up, and it was the owner of the property. As usual, the southern folks were as friendly and hospitable. I told him what our intentions were, that we weren’t going to buy anything, just shoot pictures of a few of the items he had laying around. He proceeded to give us a tour of the inside, showing us things that he thought we would be interested in. After shooting the photos, we said our goodbye’s and we were on our way to the next art show. I painted several paintings from that junk shop. I call my set “Items”, which includes, the “Milk Can”, “The Lantern”, “Wickers End” (which is a broken down cane chair on the back porch) and of course this painting called the “Corner Shelf”. Sometimes I add another painting called “”The Broken Swing”. Many times I will add something extra in my paintings. “Corner Shelf” is no exception. I put a couple of my artists brushes in the jar near the back of the painting.
Prints:
ALL PRINTS are printed on canvas and stretched on wooden stretcher bars and prices vary according to size ordered. Most are 2:3 proportion
Options:
wrapped print- part of the image is wrapped
around the sides of the wood.
Non-wrapped print- The full image is on the face, with white or black edges
(frames and hardware are not included)
11″ x 14″………. $148.82
16″ x 20″ ………. $204.72
16″ X 20″ original painting on stretched canvas not available.
My lighthouse paintings was one of the most asked for set of framed prints during our years of traveling around the Country exhibiting my artwork. Here are links to all of them…
While exhibiting in the Florida Keys, we took some time for picture taking in Key West. We found a Bed and Breakfast and Inn, located 913 Duval Street, located in historic Old Town. To me, it gave the feeling that you can identify with the Key West atmosphere. Later I painted the acrylic painting of the entrance to the Guest House.
The best part of this painting, was during an Art Festival on the east coast of Florida, a young couple approached me with a unique story. The young man advised me that he grew up in that house as a child. They not only purchased the painting, but they asked if I would change the sign above the door.
The name “Wicker” was changed to his last name and the word “Guesthouse” remained the same. I think we not only made their day, but it sure made mine!
Prints:
ALL PRINTS are printed on canvas and stretched on wooden stretcher bars and prices vary according to size ordered. Most are 2:3 proportion
Options:
wrapped print- part of the image is wrapped
around the sides of the wood.
Non-wrapped print- The full image is on the face, with white or black edges
(frames and hardware are not included)
11″ x 14″Black Edge………. $148.82
11″ x 14″ White Edge………. $148.82
11″ x 14″ Wrapped Edge………. $148.82
16″ x 20″ Black Edge ………. $204.72
16″ x 20″ White Edge………. $204.72
16″ x 20″ Wrapped Edge………. $204.72
16″ x 20″ ………. $375.00 original painting on stretched canvas not available.
The White Castle Restaurants started in 1927, as the first one opened in Cincinnati, Ohio. The first White Castle in Chicago was located at Wabash and Cermak, in 1930. The restaurant chain offered small hamburgers that sold for 5 cents until the 1940s. The American term for a small sandwich 3 inches across or smaller was called a “Slider”, which became a common term for a White Castle Burger.
The original Chicago building has become a landmark, as the building has been restored to the original design but is no longer a White Castle restaurant.
The painting was done in my early years, when I started exhibiting at the Chicago area shows. It was a popular item, especially in the Midwest area. It was also included in my set of 4 Chicago prints, along with Billy Goat Tavern, Superdawg and Hot Diggity Dogs, which were horizontal paintings. I added the Chicago Cubs panting later, but it was a vertical painting.
Prints:
ALL PRINTS are printed on canvas and stretched on wooden stretcher bars and prices vary according to size ordered. Most are 2:3 proportion
Options:
wrapped print- part of the image is wrapped
around the sides of the wood.
Non-wrapped print- The full image is on the face, with white or black edges
(frames and hardware are not included)
11″ x 14″Black Edge………. $148.82
11″ x 14″ White Edge………. $148.82
11″ x 14″ Wrapped Edge………. $148.82
16″ x 20″ Black Edge ………. $204.72
16″ x 20″ White Edge………. $204.72
16″ x 20″ Wrapped Edge………. $204.72
16″ x 20″ ………. $375.00 original painting on stretched canvas not available.
When you look at the gas stations of today, with their fancy buildings, and huge canopies over the pumps, you forget what it was like, less than 30 years ago. While driving down the back roads of north Georgia, we went through the community of Lula.
In my early years of painting nostalgia, while gathering information on future paintings, I came upon a Shell station, that was located in Lula. It had the old-fashioned look of years gone by, so I stopped and took a few photos of the gas pumps.
I eventually painted a painting of those pumps, which also became part of my gas pump set of 4 different brands. Some of the others were, Gulf, Texaco, Marathon and Sinclair.
Copyright Larry Johnston
Gas Pumps are pretty popular! Here are the ones I have painted so far…
