9″ X 12″

Original Painting Size

Hope Train Depot

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Copyright Larry Johnston
Copyright Larry Johnston

Hope Train Depot

Hope, Arkansas

It was in 1994, Bill Clinton was our Nation’s President.  We were in Arkansas, so we took a side trip to the town of Hope, Arkansas, which was the birthplace of the 42nd President.  There was a festival that was very popular to the area, where we could sell my paintings and prints.  It was the “Hope Watermelon Festival”.

As we drove around the town, I took pictures of his boyhood home, the school he attended and of course, the train depot.  Train Depots are always popular prints.  I decided to paint the depot and have it available for the festival several months later.  As I remember, it took place on July 4th.  Even Good Morning America was televised from there.

The temperature was 105 degrees and they had semi loads of nice cold watermelon, cut longways into quarters and sold for 25 cents.   I think it was the best watermelon I have ever tasted.  I must have had a couple of dollars-worth.

The depot has become one of the items in my Depot print set, which features four of my paintings. Other train depots I have painted are:  Cartersville, GA Depot,    Germantown, OH Depot,    Elkhart, IN Depot and the famous Whistle Stop Depot, Juliette, GA.

 

Mail boxes

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Copyright Larry Johnston
Copyright Larry Johnston

The Mail Boxes

During my early Art shows, a Country theme was very popular and was asked if I had this or that.  One of the requests was a painting of some mailboxes, so I drove around the country road until I found some that I thought would make a good painting.

After making prints or the original painting, it became quite popular during that time.  It lead me to paint other country items, like a coal bucket, lantern, outhouses and even an old cane chair.  It was amazing to see how one thing leads to another.