Bruce's Drugstore from Bygone Years

The finished painting is always the very best and well worth the wait to see. This was done in three sessions on the street in the hot sun in Scottsville on the James River in southern Albemarle County this past week. The three sessions where about two and a half hours each, one lasting over three hours in it's time on the streetside. I decided simply to work only onsite. That strategy worked well. I only touched up a few miscues at home after the last session otherwise it was totally a work done 'plein air'. The building is a large one on the main corner of this river community. It was originally a drugstore but now it's been divided up into three smaller shops which vary depending on how business is and who can handle sales in an otherwise deserted town. While I was their I saw very few people walking on the city streets but the few that did seemed very interested in just what I was doing painting on the sidewalk. I talked to the few that bothered to look over my shoulder, none were bothersome and many were very interested and appreciative of my efforts. I talked as I painted not really taking that close of a look as I might have of just who I was talking to. Those who passed by in car tended to lean out of the window and hollar out 'that's beautiful' for which I was very thankful due to the way people in the larger cities tended not to be so friendly when hollaring out at me while I painted 'plein air'. All 'n all it was a good experience and I hope to show this painting to the owner of said building soon in the hopes of selling it to him.

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What Has Worked;

Wyant's Store in Whitehall,Va.

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  It is noted that Whitehall Virginia is a throwback to an earlier time, a time when people knew who you were whenever one was to shop in the store such as this....its something found in the rural areas of this state and not so much in the cities of Virginia. This is one of my paintings of such a place, where the guys inside it are all gathered talking about what's news in the area over some snack food of one kind or another. They were all very kind to me once I stopped in to see the inside of this store once I was done painting for the day. I enjoyed working on this one...it is the second of the same subject, the store was interesting to work on so I took a second look as it were and painted it again. It's wasn't so much that I didn't like the first painting of this country store it was more that I enjoyed working on it so I thought I would prolong the joyfullness by doing it a second time. I'm sure you have no idea what I am talking about..well just have a
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Walking Along W. Main St.

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I found the scene along West Main is soon to change into an newer style cityscape of brick and glass with less ornamentation to its buildings. With this in mind I photographed some West Main Street buildings in the hopes of finding interesting scenes to paint. The signage is all a part of West Main and in that thought I painted this one with its graphic street crossing signage featured prominently in the picture plane. I highlighted the bricks in intense reds and developed the windows in a bizarre abstract display for each one of them. Each featuring one color being themed inside its frame as if each window display had its own abstract painting going on inside its area. Its all for the fun of it, I play with what is being viable to the view when I can. Nothing ventured nothing gained. It was nice how this one came together piece by piece with each painting session. Intense color came about as I developed its' scene on the sidewalk windows. I was going to bring in
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Firecycle in Kamahura: 1954 or So

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Painting in the Public Domain

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The County of Nelson's Courthouse

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Life's interest often takes us to the law and where the law is practiced. Recently there was a trial where it drew statewide interest due to the unusual manner in which the prosecution held its case. They didn't have the right of habeas corpus to carry on a conviction with yet the trail went on, and in the end the man was convicted of capital murder. There seems to have been enough evidence to convince the jury of the man's guilt. It was only the second time in Virginia criminal law cases that this has happened and it happened here in Nelson County. The Courthouse where this trial took place stands alone on top of a hill (the highest point in the city of Lovingston, Va.) The courthouse has a newer extension put onto its northside but if one sees it from one spot where I painted this canvas you can't see it. But what you do see is the old structure in all its grandeur. Such was the place from which I chose to paint this rather unremarkable yet noticeable b
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