When I lived in Georgia, I became more involved with Art Festivals around the area in the mid-1980s. While driving down a road outside Cartersville, on Sugar Valley Road, I saw a gas pump that was on a farm, apparently used for the owner’s equipment. These paintings were all variations of the same pump.
This painting was the first in a series of gas pumps I painted during that time. A few other pumps were Shell, Gulf,Mobile, Marathon and Sinclair.
Copyright Larry JohnstonCopyright Larry JohnstonCopyright Larry JohnstonCopyright Larry Johnston
In 1986, during one of my Art Festivals, I had exhibited some of my past work in a photograph book, which included some commission work that I had done. Billy Neal, a local resident, owned a gas station in Cartersville, GA. His wife saw a painting of a Texaco gas pump hanging in my booth and purchased it for her husband as a gift.
Since she had seen some of my local paintings that I had done for other people in my book, asked if I would paint a picture of Billy’s Texaco station in Cartersville, GA., I was delighted to be able to add another local painting to my photograph book, which led to other commissioned paintings.
In 1983, Evelyn and I moved to Georgia from California. While exhibiting at several art festivals in our new environment, I had a request for a painting of a covered bridge in Bartow County, GA. On our way to the bridge, we passed through Cartersville and saw, what looked like a permanent carnival, with a Ferris Wheel, Merry-Go-Round, a ride with swings and a refreshment stand.
Several weeks later, I stopped and took some photos. One of the paintings was of the trolley, with the Ferris Wheel. The man who owned the rides, was names Tilley, so it became Tilley Park, where he offered the park to organizations to use for fund-raising.
We ended up buying a home in that little town, where we lived for several years. The cameras back then were not as sharp, so I only was able to show this one photo of the painting. The Tilley family now owns two of the paintings that I did of their park, which is no longer there. Here is a link to the other painting. Tilley Park Painting.
I painted several Cartersville places, and some really close by, here are the links…
When I lived in Georgia, I exhibited in many art shows and festivals in the area. My focus was to paint local landmarks near where the shows were being held. The “Roselawn” show, in Cartersville, was my first show in Georgia.
During the Civil War, many plantations were burned, leaving only a few homes from that era. Valley View was spared, as it was rumored that it was used as a hospital. The home is 5,160 sq ft on 6,485 acres.
The home was built with Pre-Civil War Architecture and is located west of Cartersville, Georgia. The Plantation home is now being used by the Bartow County Historical Society.
The painting was done in 1985 on stretched canvas.
Copyright Larry Johnston
I painted several Cartersville places, and some really close by, here are the links…
When we first moved to the State of Georgia, we moved to Cartersville, north of Atlanta. I had painted several homes on commission for several years. When I found out that the current Governor’s personal home was located, in Cartersville, I thought it to be a nice gesture to paint his home and present it to him.
I did not know that it would be such a big event at the time. It was on the front page of the local paper with a photograph of the presentation at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta.
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.
After I had painted the Texaco pump with the brown barn in the background, I called it brown Barn Texaco. This painting was similar, but needed some more color to the painting, so I added the Red barn. It was one of several different brands that I eventually painted. Gas pumps became quite a collection subject, for people that made a habit of buying my work.
My prints were available to buy in a 5″ x 7″ and 11″ x 14″, including a mat around the print. I even made barn-wood frames for a while, then switched to a variety of frame colors: black, Burgundy, forest green and colonial blue. .Now I offer the prints on stretched canvas, to make it look like the original.
While living in Cartersville, GA, I exhibited at the Roselawn Art festival, which was held on the property of the home called, “Roselawn”. It was the home of Samuel Porter Jones, (1847 – 1906), who was a Methodist Evangelist, during the turn of the century.
The home was originally a one-story building, which was raised. They added a third floor and a basement, which is what you see today. In 1973, the home was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and was the home to the local Historical Society. It is located at 244 W. Cherokee Avenue, Cartersville, Georgia 30120.
During my second year at the Festival, I had finished the painting the night before, which would have been in 1984.
Copyright Larry JohnstonCopyright Larry Johnston
I painted several Cartersville places, and some really close by, here are the links…
While watching movies growing up, we see places that are the ideal places to live. Of course, that’s only in the movies. The quaint little towns, with the parks, gazebos and Ferris wheels, rides and such. Well the story of the Tilley Park painting started in 1983, when I was commissioned to paint a painting of a covered bridge in Euharlee, Georgia. In order, to get to the covered bridge, we had to drive through Cartersville, Georgia.
It was a small town and had a railroad depot in the middle, with the Court house on the hill and the stores were situated in a U shape, facing the depot. We passed the square and started up the hill and there it was…Tilley Park.!
We eventually moved there and found out the history of the park. Mr. Tilley owned all the rides and organizations rented the park for fundraisers and such. Little did I know, when I took photos of the park, they had planned on removing the rides the following day. I eventually painted two paintings from the park. The Tilley Family bought several of the paintings.
I painted several Cartersville places, and some really close by, here are the links…
In a previous painting, I highlighted the painting Brown Barn with Texaco Pump . The painting was purchased by a young couple who asked if I could put their newly restored truck in the painting. They ended up deciding they liked the painting as it was, but wanted me to paint something to compliment the painting and also include their truck. As you can see by the 2 paintings below, I used the same background as a continuation of the first painting. They were delighted!
Established in 1945, Ross Diner has been a part of 4 generations. While living in Cartersville, during the 1980’s, I learned some history of north Georgia and its businesses. Diners always intrigued me, so I took pictures of them and painted the history in my paintings, as I look back to the time when they were popular and the talk of the town. Ross Diner still sits in the middle of the town at 17 N. Wall Street, in Cartersville, Georgia.
The diner was famous for its breakfast menu, which featured their homemade biscuits along with the Country breakfast and lunches they served. They open at 6:30 am and closed at 2:30 pm Monday through Wednesday. Thursday and Friday the hours are 6:30 am to 8:00 pm and 6:30 am to 2:30 pm on Saturday.
Ross Diner became one of my favorite paintings and a popular one for the locals. It was part of my Cartersville print set, which included the 4-way Lunch, the Cartersville Depot, Valley View, Tilley Park, Tilley Trolley, Euharlee Covered Bridge and Roselawn.
I painted several Cartersville places, and some really close by, here are the links…
