Landscape of Virginia

 This structure made of earth'n slate brick like blocks stands alone in a field near an old railroad track.   There was a time when a train ran between here in Schuyler and on down to Scottsville.   It began its run in the mountains near Afton and for all I know it might have run all the way to Richmond.   A friend said his mother use to ride the train from Esmont (near this structure) to school in Scottsville everyday.    What I don't know is just what this 'house' is or who lived in it and if it was a 'house' at all.   It remains in a field just off the road between Keene and Esmont. Many folks know of it.   Sometimes a  crew of photographers will show up and set up a model in a pose using it as a backdrop for the photo-shoot.   Eitherway, it is interesting even if no one seems to know just what its doing their in the first place.   I suppose its been through a lot different uses over the many years its been standing, for me its u...

   This building sits on a hilltop overlooking the Walton's home in Schuyler.   It is a wonderful addition to this small community and is attended to by but a few remaining members of its congregation that live nearbly.   I wanted to paint it with the thought of it being a really beautiful building that once housed many ceremonies for those minors who were devout in their faith and prayed within its walls.       

     The northern most state during the southern Civil War was Virginia, and we lost.   Here in Central Virginia some of the homes built after that time are mostly but not all leveled to the ground.   Some remain but in tattered shape.   Many not at all.   Those homes built to replace those that had fallen were built with poorly made  of construction material.   Now many of those are falling apart too.    I've seen very many on my drives around the County I live in and the Counties nearby be homes that are in that condition.   The condition where they don't seem too long before crumbling into dust.         Its clear that the South suffered a defeat and unlike our foreign enemies that we defeat then rebuild there country after the conflict ends the South never has been helped with aid in such as manner that has been given to those foreign countries like Post WWI Germany, pos...

    The Country in Virginia has spot where the folks decided to place a gas station alongside a road.    Its there that they serviced those that lived nearby, now defunkcd they remain crumbling along the roadside.   Once popular as service stations they have an iconic look to them.   That is there look is unique to the fact that they all have a portico reaching outward from them where the gas pumps stood.   Here in this painting I pictured those features in this station declining days.   One can sense it must have been the scene of many a car fueling under its roof.   The wood is rotted.   The pumps have been removed.    The oil tanks well who knows if they are gone or not,  no way to tell.   The geometric wooden structure is still in tack,  for how long no on knows but for now it remained long enough for me to paint it. 

 Here is my version of Walton's Mountain with Earl Hamner's country home before it.   Its small painting, only ten inches square.   With the tacks holding the canvas and the popular trim framing, ten inches and....  Its an oil painting done on location on Rt 6 in Nelson County, Va.    

This barn was rusting out from the top down, so it was very colorful to paint. My canvas called out to have some fun with it, so I did: the result is a small painting that changes tone from one side to the other.   True I did have trouble photographing it but still you can still see the warm browns and deep black/blues on the right side transversing over to cold white/greens and blacks on the other side...way weird eh!

I've had troubles getting the lowdown view of this isolated country store w gas and sandwiches to go, the first two paintings were just down the tubes as far as visual interest. This one is better. I took in the outter view of cushion value of distancing around the store itself, and I think I won with a better feel to this scene. The station is buffeted by some space around it and distance too. Its a little better to view when there is some breathing room around it and not jammed into a small canvas space. I like the cars a little better in this one as well as leaving some visual detect-ability of the painting methods I used in creating this version of "Kidd's Store (#3)". Hope your entertained with its intensity and spacial relief.