While exhibiting at art shows and festivals around the country, I shared some of my still life artistry, as well as historical and popular places. One of my still life paintings was of an old-discarded sewing machine. I found the sewing machine in a junk shop in Pine Mountain, Georgia. The machine was sitting partially in the shadows, which caused me to name it “Sewing Shadows.”
I eventually painted a set that complimented this painting: The Lantern, the Wicker Chair and the milk can. They all came from that same junk shop, we found along the road.
While traveling in Central Georgia, we had just finished a show in Pine Mountain, Georgia and as we were driving down the highway, we saw a house that was more than an antique shop. We called it the junk shop. It had almost everything you could think of, that was of no value. I took some pictures while I was there and later painted a few of the items.
One of those items was hanging from a nail on the wall. “The lantern” painting became just one of the items that came from that junk shop. “The Corner Shelf”, “Wickers End” and “The Coal Bucket” and the milk can was also highlighted in my paintings.
Sixes Mill, was one of the earliest settlements in north Georgia. Located in the Georgia Gold Belt, which runs along the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains, prospectors originally built the mill around 1820. The mill survived the Civil War and was reconstructed between 1878 and 1880. The mill sits along Sixes Road about 3 miles west of Holly Springs, Georgia.
Since I had done several Art Shows and Festivals in the north Georgia area, including Acworth, Cartersville, Cummings, Marietta and surrounding the Atlanta area, I had several requests of prints of the mill. It became part of my Grist Mill print set, which included Stone Mountain Mill, GA Summer, Stone Mountain Mill, GA Spring, Starr’s Mill, Sixes Mill, from GA and Pigeon Forge Mill in Tennessee.
Grist Mills have always had a special interest to me, they are fascinating, and brilliant planning for the water to do the hard work! Here are some grist mills around the Country that I have painted,
As an artist, I am always looking at things differently than most. I have painted several nostalgic businesses around the country, many of them commissioned. This painting is one of my favorites, as it was one of my first attempts at Acrylic painting, after previously working in oil paints.
I hadn’t yet refined my detail, but it convinced me to continue painting in acrylics. I never sold this 24″x30″ canvas painting, as it hangs in my son’s living room, framed in barn wood. This was also the largest painting I had done up until then, which was in 1976.
The old mill is located within the Stone Mountain Park, east of Atlanta, Georgia. Home of the Yellow Daisy Festival, one of the top Arts & Crafts Festivals in the country. It was one of my favorite shows where I exhibited for several years.
Grist Mills have always had a special interest to me, they are fascinating, and brilliant planning for the water to do the hard work! Here are some grist mills around the Country that I have painted,
The Movie “Fried Green Tomatoes” became a classic and was filmed during a time when I lived in Georgia. I’m showing you the painting I did of the Whistle Stop Cafe, in Juliette, Georgia, the location where the movie, “Fried Green Tomatoes” was filmed. You can see the painting at the Café’.
The painting is acrylic on stretched canvas. The owner of the restaurant purchased the panting and then had me paint another one without the gas pumps. The Pure Oil pumps were movie props and went back to the movie lot, when the film was completed. If you visit the Whistle stop cafe, you get fried green tomatoes with every meal. They’re pretty good too. I painted four paintings related to the movies, then put prints of them in a frame as a set of 4 matted and framed prints. The print sets were very popular, especially in the Atlanta area. One of my favorite shows was just east of Atlanta at Stone Mountain, called the “Yellow Daisy Festival”. It ranked in the top for shows in the country and several times #1.
Copyright Larry Johnston
Gas Pumps are pretty popular! Here are the ones I have painted so far…
