Ross’ Diner

Copyright Larry Johnston
Copyright Larry Johnston

Ross Diner

Cartersville, Georgia

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…

Cartersville Depot

Ross Diner

Roselawn, Sam Jones Home

Euharlee Covered Bridge

Euharlee Covered Bridge in the Spring

Valley View

Tilley Park

Tilley Trolley

4 Way

4 Way Lunch

Copyright Larry Johnston
Copyright Larry Johnston
Copyright Larry Johnston
Copyright Larry Johnston

4 Way Lunch

Cartersville, Georgia

Located in Cartersville, Georgia, at the corner of East Main Street (Hwy 41) and Gilmer Street, the  “4-Way”, as the locals called it, has been there since 1931. I painted the painting in about 1984, when I was exhibiting in art shows in the area.  It was one of my most popular paintings of the time.

The 4-Way was small, but it had front doors and a side door.  As you entered through the front doors, you noticed there were no tables, just 8 stools across the front of the counter. They may have had 2 or 3 at the end of the counter, but they were always  full. As soon as you finished eating, they asked you to get up, pay and go on about your day. Their menu was simple with hot dogs, hamburgers and fried chicken.  Their gravy burgers, you had to eat with a fork.  I enjoyed watching them make the chili dogs,  The cook lined up all the hot dogs up and down his arm and look a ladle and filled them with the chili. The health department would not allow such a thing in todays world!

The 4-way was not a place for a leisure lunch with friends and conversation.  When you finished eating, you had to leave, to let the next person come in and have a place to sit.  It was quite an experience.

It is located just off I-75 about 40 miles north of Atlanta.  It’s well worth the experience.

I painted several Cartersville places, and some really close by, here are the links…

Cartersville Depot

Ross Diner

Roselawn, Sam Jones Home

Euharlee Covered Bridge

Euharlee Covered Bridge in the Spring

Valley View

Tilley Park

Tilley Trolley

4 Way

Behind the House

Copyright Larry Johnston
Copyright Larry Johnston

Behind the House

Cartersville, Georgia

I worked with a lady, during the time, when I was teaching myself to paint realism.  She had taken some Art classes and had a big painting hanging in her office of an old barn.  The roof had collapsed and you could see the boards sticking out the top, where the roof had broken.  Next to it was an old brick silo.

I was impressed with the subject she had chosen, so I took my camera and scoured the countryside around northern Indiana, expecting to find old fallen down barns everywhere.  For 2 days, I drove around and only found nicely painted red barns, white barns, but very few weathered barns.  Even the houses had been kept up.

So when we moved to Georgia, there were old houses, old barns, outhouses and even old weathered farms. I took lots of pictures, so when I was asked to teach a painting class, at an art supply store, that was my first project. The first painting was of a shed that was located behind the main house on a property.

I called the painting “Behind the House”.  I learned that teaching a 4-week painting was a mistake, since the students missed weeks along the way, that they had paid for. We eventually got through it, but all my classes after that were quick 2-hour paintings, that they could finish the same day.

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.