During my years on the road exhibiting at Art Shows and Festivals, Crown Point, Indiana was a regular on my tour, as it was held on the Court House lawn in the center of town.
The library, built in 1908 was located at 223 S. Main Street, just one block from the center of the town, from the Court house. With the expansion of the library, it now extends all the way to Court Street. The original part of the building is now being used as office space for the Crown Point Community Library.
While exhibiting at a number of art festivals on the Court house lawn in Crown Point, Indiana, I found that one of the local landmarks, was the old jail across the street. I eventually created a painting of the jail, one of four from Crown Point.
John Dillinger, during a bank robbery in Chicago shot and killed a police officer and was captured in Tucson, Arizona and taken to the Lake County Jail, in Crown Point, Indiana. Early morning, on March 3, 1934, Dillinger had carved a gun either from a bar of soap, or a wooden washboard, (Local legend varies), covering it with black shoe polish. Using it in his escape, an automatic gun was taken from a jail guard, as he made his escape.
On July 23, 1934, Dillinger was shot and killed by the FBI outside the Biograph Theater, in Chicago.
Among many of the art shows and festival I attended since 1978, one of many local shows took place on the lawn of the Lake County Courthouse in Crown Point, Indiana. Since I attended the show for several years, I painted several local places. Of course, the first painting had to be the Courthouse.
The Courthouse was unique, with 3 towers, the middle being the clock tower. Built in 1878, it was referred to as “The Grand Old Lady”. It was a combination of Romanesque and Georgian architectural styles.
Now, retired from County Government, the building now houses the Historical Museum along with shops that attract tourists, shoppers and other visitors.
It was just a grain silo. We called it the “Milk Silo” because of the advertisement painted on the side.
Just south of Mishawaka, Indiana on Hwy 131, north of Bremen, there are 2 small towns. Wyatt, is about one block long with no traffic lights, but they do have a Post office. Just north of that, is the town of Woodland, with a store that has been empty for years. The only way you know it’s a town, is because of small sign that says “Wooland”.
Woodland is significant to me, because of the cement grain silo that sat in the yard of an old farm house
When first starting out exhibiting in Art Festivals, I stayed close to home, which at the time was South Bend, Indiana, next door to Mishawaka. After I took pictures of the silo, it was just a few months, when they removed it. Since I had already taken pictures of it, I decided to put it on canvas.
It didn’t take long before the painting sold, and many prints after that. Even members of the family, who owned the property, bought prints of the milk silo. Another instant nostalgic memory that I was able to capture just in time!
Since I lived in South Bend, Indiana, I exhibited in shows in the area and wanted to capture some of the history of South Bend. The South Shore Line was popular in earlier years, which ran from South Bend to Chicago. The South Bend station was located downtown across from the LaSalle Hotel. The South Shore still runs from South Bend to Chicago and stops between, but the station was moved to the airport on the west side of South Bend. I wanted to focus the painting on the end of the line, where the passengers exit the train at the South Shore Station. To capture the reflections of the lights, I painted the scene as if it was a light rain, creating the wet pavement I even put a Studebaker in the background, since Studebaker was the main industry in South Bend at the time. I hope you enjoyed your trip back in time.
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)
8″ x 12″ Black Edge………. $109.17
8″ x 12″ White Edge………. $109.17
8″ x 12″ Wrapped Edge………. $109.17
12” x 18” Black Edge ………. $168.07
12” x 18” White Edge ………. $168.07
12” x 18” Wrapped Edge ………. $168.07
16” x 24” Black Edge ………. $226.14 (Most popular)
16” x 24” White Edge ………. $226.14 (Most popular)
16” x 24” Wrapped Edge ………. $226.14 (Most popular)
20” x 30” Black Edge………. $314.34
20” x 30” White Edge………. $314.34
20” x 30” Wrapped Edge………. $314.34
24” x 36”Black Edge ………. $335.65
24” x 36”White Edge ………. $335.65
24” x 36”Wrapped Edge ………. $335.65
24” x 36” ………. Original Painting on stretched canvas not available.
This Amish school, located just west of Nappanee, Indiana was just a small school with a couple of rooms for teaching and learning. The old brick school with the steeple bell that used to ring, calling the children to school and after recess in the school yard, which had lots of play equipment for the students to play on.
The school has been replaced by a newer school that could accommodate more students, but not before I was able to take pictures of the school and it’s outdoor equipment and, or course the old hand pump that supplied the water for the school.
I later painted one of the broken swing that had one swing too many.
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.
During my life on the road with my paintings, I was subject to many nostalgic places with an opportunity an opportunity to paint. While exhibiting at my first outdoor show, in 1976, at Amish Acres, in Nappanee, Indiana, I took pictures of buildings and farm equipment on the Amish Farm, where they held the show.
One of the pictures, that I later painted was of the old Amish Farm House. Since I photographed my paintings, this painting was photographed over 40 years ago, therefore the quality was not as good as the more recent pictures. Some of the other buildings, I ended up painting, were the Round Barn, now a theatre,Meat & Cheese Shop and the Restaurant barn.
At one time, many years ago, Amish Acres Art Festival was in the top 5 art festivals in the Country, I have exhibited and sold my artwork here for more than 30 years.
Copyright Larry Johnston
Copyright Larry Johnston
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.
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:
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:
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:
