Landscape of Virginia

There is a road I often take to get to the Lake Monticello area where my doctor has his office, and along the way is this store. Its "Kidd's Store", a spot along the way in the middle of nowhere its sits quietly. I stopped and took a look inside. There I found it stocked with a few typical snack items and a small counter that served small sandwiches and other items. There is one person behind the counter and that's it. No gas pumps but it did have an air machine as you can see in the painting. It might not have been much but it was something, and the only stop for miles around, so it was a welcome storefront. People know of it around here, it even has its name on the local TV station's weather map, so its got to be somewhat well known.

I started out by painting in this style now dubbed 'toonistic art' or 'lowbrow art' either way it was a way I began painting. It was formed after being brought up reading the 'funnies' every Sunday morning after Church on the floor of our living room. With the large paper spread out across the rug I slowly engulfed the funny papers one artists work at a time. To me they were a wonderful feat of both ideas and drawing and coloration of those caricature drawings. It was my weekly dose of art that came right to our house. Wonderful! When I began working in oils at the Academy this was the style I wanted to emulate and otherwise saw as a valid artform. My teachers were divided on this issue I later found out. Whether or not it was an accepted form of art, they later gave me an Honorable Mention Cresson Award.