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JRW gas station painting. JRW was listed in the 1910 census as a farmer, and in the 1920 and 1930 census as a merchant. He died in 1940.

Permission to post the entire photo given by the Saint Mary's Historical Society. Please DO NOT copy and/or transfer either the photo or the copyrighted painting image to another location

Thanks to everyone who gave me advice with special thanks to Jim Potts, Old Iron, Ed Shaver and Bob Richards.

I took some artistic liberties and unlike the beautiful graphics that T-Way and others do for restoration work, I’m not trying for perfection. If I tried perfection, free hand in oils on woven canvas (acrylic on a panel would have been easier), this painting would have taken 10X as long and would have driven me mad. As it was it took me over 80 hours of painting time. I removed the deciduous tree to bring focus to the center of the painting and I made the background evergreens look further back to push the house forward.

The original painting is 18 by 22 inches. Each section contains 3 to 5 layers of paint. Normally when I paint portraits, I use fairly big brushes and don’t try to paint every wrinkle. The magic in that technique is when you go close to a painting that you thought had a perfect pearl necklace, up close it’s just some dots against a darker gray. Your mind made up the details.

In this painting I did try for more detail. Except for parts of the sky, and the first under painting, I used my smallest brush because I knew that my niece and her husband would want to read the signs. For me it is the difference between ‘fine art’ and ‘illustration.’ It doesn’t mean one type of painting style is better than the other, my interpretation of those terms for realistic paintings, simply identify painting technique. This painting would lean towards illustration.

The porch
I could only make out the two Coca Cola signs, the bottom of the thermometer, the cask on its side and the large box on the left. The large cask likely contained vinegar, used for cooking and cleaning. The box with the metallic decal on it (reflecting the porch post), was probably a lubester. I made it a kerosene lubester as this store did not have electricity as I am sure most of the community did not, and they would have sold kerosene for lamps. Kerosene was also used back then as a disinfectant. Of course it could have been an oil lubester. Can anyone ID the decal in the original photo?

I did not paint the store in winter as the photo shows with snow on the ground, the roof and parts of the store walls. I also made it a sunny, rather than an overcast day. It was not unusual to have a water cask for the customers, set up on long legs during the warmer months (thanks Old Iron!)--an early version of today’s water cooler. Folks went to the store for the latest news and gossip, so there would have been a bench on the porch for customers.

I pulled the signage off of the photos you shared with me for the painting, off the internet and from part of one tire sign posted here. I saw that great poster from the forums with the bulldog logo and was able to find a porcelain sign “guaranteed 4000 miles” on the internet. Loved the school bus yellow color! I needed something strong to help make that area (the roof sign, JRW himself , the red pump behind him and the yellow sign) as the focal point of the composition.

You look at those old black and white photos and don’t realize how colorful these places really were… So what did I miss? To late to change the painting, but I always like learning stuff… : )

very nice nicole!!i like it!!

Looks great, Nicole!

Wow Nicole, what a great painting - you sure brought life to the old picture.

Thanks! I really enjoyed painting it... : )

Here's a close up of what I was guessing was a lubster. When I started painting it, it seemed too narrow to be anything else. Anyone recognize the decal on the photo? It seems to be metalic and is reflecting the post. It may be round or a rounded diamond shape, and seems to be groved or banded. And should I have painted the lubster with a glass cylinder? Most of the pic's of lubsters on the forum gallery did not have cylinders.

Thanks!

Please do not copy these images. The painting is copyrighted.

Talented!

I am so excited...three hours ago I met JRW's granddaughter and her neice!!!

They had just bought out the prints at the historical society and contacted me that they had a better copy of the original photo. I told her I'd been looking for her for seven months.

So the sign actually said Peter's Shoes and the box on the porch was a lubster. Though a double lubster on wheels. What I thought held fruit looks to be the bench (with an ad on the back of it), and where I put the bench are two oil drums.

The funny thing I learned about the store, where she grew up, was that when there was a democratic president, the store also was the post office, and when there was a republican president, the post office was then moved into another store in town. And though the census has him living in Leonardtown, the store and where they lived, was a town named Morganza (Doc was kind enough to add that lettering to the photo in the previous post). Granddaughter doesn't know why he is listed there, but Leonardtown was the county seat, so for what ever reason, it was listed that way on the census.

Here are updated images...

Wow, that looks great Nicole. Good story behind it too.
John

Nicole , I still can't decide on a frame for the print . I'm still admiring you're work though .......... Ed Shaver