For several years, in late 1980s and early 1990s, I exhibited at the Arts Festival, in Roanoke, Virginia. I might add, they put on a great event, especially the entertainment for the public. Since it was downtown, Roanoke, we were able to visit several restaurants, during our visit.
One of the restaurants, was “Billy’s Ritz”, located adjacent to the Roanoke City Market. It was housed in the previous site of the 60 room “Ames Hotel”, which was built in 1910, according to records. Billy’s Ritz, was an upscale American, Steakhouse, which operated for 27 years, before selling in 2008.
Several other paintings from Roanoke, that I painted, was “Texas Tavern”, “The Roanoke Wiener Stand” and “Agnew Seed Store”.
Copyright Larry JohnstonCopyright Larry Johnston
I love Roanoke and could live there! It is such a cool town. Here are a few of my favorite places around town…
One of the stops on my Arts and Festival Tour was Roanoke, Virginia. They knew how to put on a festival, complete with great entertainment. Since the festival was just blocks away from the Texas Tavern, which we had heard about, we just had to check it out.
The nostalgia of it all was more than I could hope for. The diner was established in 1930. They claim that it seats 10,000 people (10 at a time). Famous for their Chili, Hot Dogs, Hamburgers and Cheesy Westerns. I noticed, while sitting at the counter, even the metal pipe that you rest your feet on, had been completely worn through to the middle.
By the readers of the Roanoke Magazine, Texas Tavern was voted the best for: Chili, Hot Dogs, Local Hamburger and Late-Night Diner. If you’re ever in Roanoke, stop downtown at 114 Church Ave. They are open 24 hours, 7 days a week. You will be glad you did!
Other Roanoke, Virginia places I have painted are: The Roanoke Weiner Stand; Agnew Seed Store and Billy’s Ritz.
Copyright Larry JohnstonCopyright Larry Johnston
I love Roanoke and could live there! It is such a cool town. Here are a few of my favorite places around town…
There was a time when I enjoyed painting pictures of old fallen down barns. While living in Cartersville, Georgia, I was driving down Sugar Valley Road, when I saw a farm-house, with a barn and a gas pump near it, so I took some photographs of it. I eventually painted the picture and found that people wanted more pictures of gas pumps, so I eventually painted other pumps, like Shell, Gulf, Sinclair, American, Marathon and of course several Texaco pumps. We called this one “Brown Barn Texaco” since I later painted one with a red barn in the paining. We called it “Red Barn Texaco”, of course.
During one of the art festivals, a young couple purchased the painting, which was a 9″ x 12″ canvas acrylic painting. They had a pick-up truck that they had restored and wanted me to paint the truck in this painting. Instead of adding to the painting, we agreed that a second painting would be done as a continuation of this painting, to hang next to this one. (Restored Truck painting)
Bradford’s Store, located on the corner of Calico Valley Road and Pine Log Road was the areas general store, which housed the Post Office from 1833 until 1979. The area was called Pine Log by the Cherokee Indians prior to 1785 (Georgia Hwy 140, three miles east of US Hwy 411) In 1906 the L & N Railroad was completed and ran from Cartersville, GA to Knoxville, TN and a depot was built and the community became “Rydal”. The station is gone, but the Post office, built in 1908, still exists.
I had exhibited in a local art festival, called the “Pine Log Arts & Crafts Festival” for several years, so the painting of Bradford’s became very popular in many towns around the area. The last I heard was, the store was purchased and restored after being vacant for a number of years. The Art Festival has been held at the United Methodist Church Campground, in Rydal.
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.
In 1938 Bonnie Doon Ice Cream was established and eventually grew into a local chain of drive-in Ice Cream shops and restaurants. The first business was located on 4th Street, in Mishawaka, Indiana.
I had painted one of the other Bonnie Doon drive-ins, located on S. Michigan St, in South Bend, IN and the painting was on display at local Art show, when a couple approached me to paint the 4th Street Ice Cream Shop. They used to date when they were young and that was their favorite date place. I painted the building as it looked at that time, putting their Studebaker in the painting.
The building was also the factory for making the ice cream for the other stores. It now sits empty, as the store closed a couple of years ago. Only one store remains, which was purchased several years ago. Bonnie Doon eventually entered the local retail market with a variety of flavors.
This location was on Lincolnway, in Mishawaka. It is the only location still operating but has a different owner, but Bonnie Doon ice cream is still popular. The ice cream plant was originally within the 4th Street building and later located in Elkhart and could be purchased at retail outlets in the area.
The panting highlights the neon with the 1956 T-Bird, showing the era of the business. On the opposite side of the building, there was a drive-up with car hops and the traditional ordering through a speaker from your car. I even included my wife Evelyn in the painting inside, complete with the Juke Box. She is not the one with the baseball cap!
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 $1,295
This painting is my version of a silver diner, looking in from the outside, complete with the soda fountain, black and white checkered floor a booth, bar stools and yes, a jukebox, It was a fun project to make up my own Silver Diner. I sold this painting, but not without conditions. Check out those conditions in my second painting (here).
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
It was the 1950’s, when Neon, Milk Shakes and cool cars came on the scene. In the midst of it all, we had heard of a new restaurant that had burgers, fries and shakes. You couldn’t go inside to eat and they didn’t have car hops that brought it out to your car. The way it worked was, you walked up to the window on the outside of the building and ordered your food, they prepared it, put it in a bag and you either sat in your car or took it home to eat. They called it “Fast Food”. The even had a sign that told you how many hamburgers they had sold nationwide.
These places started in Chicago and were popping up in other states. In January of 1959, the first local McDonald’s opened just one block from the dividing line between South Bend and Mishawaka, Indiana, on Lincolnway West on the Mishawaka side.
As I was traveling and painting for Art Shows, the pubic was excited about my diner and restaurant pictures. Since I did several shows in this area, and was raised in South Bend, I decided to include McDonald’s, as it would have looked, when it first opened here.
While on the road in in Louisville Kentucky, at St. James Court, one of the top shows in the country, we were approached by a family, whos’ father had just retired and sold his collection of a large number of McDonald’s restaurants he had built up, during his restaurant years. The children wanted to pool their money and buy him the painting as a retirement gift.
The McDonald’s painting was my first experience with Classic Cars and Neon, which became a popular theme in later paintings.
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)
20″ x 24″Black Edge………. $148.82
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20″ x 24″ White Edge………. $148.82
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20″ x 24″ Wrapped Edge………. $148.82
Error! Special characters like [, ], <, > are not supported in the product name.
30″ x 36″ Black Edge ………. $204.72
Error! Special characters like [, ], <, > are not supported in the product name.
30″ x 36″ White Edge………. $204.72
Error! Special characters like [, ], <, > are not supported in the product name.
30″ x 36″ Wrapped Edge………. $204.72
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30″ X 36″ 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.
Founded in 1949, the first Skyline Chili on Glenway Avenue, in Cincinnati, Ohio is an area now known as Price Hill. The building is no longer there, however around the corner at 3714 Warsaw Ave (above painting), is a combination restaurant and drive through Skyline Chili.
Famous for their special chili, coney dogs and my favorites, the 3-way, 4-way and 5-way which offers a combination of Spaghetti, topped with their special Chili, covered with cheese. Onions and beans can be added.
While exhibiting in the Cincinnati area Art shows, we discovered Skyline Chili and soon after, I painted two versions of the restaurant on Warsaw Avenue. In the first version, I painted the first wienermobile in the painting, as it was leaving the restaurant. (Click to View). I guess the driver was craving a Skyline coney dog. A couple, I met at an art festival, wanted me to paint the painting without those vehicles and wanted theirs in the painting instead. I have personalized other paintings over my career, especially at their favorite restaurants or places they grew up around.
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
