This little bank building in the corner instantly grabbed my attention as I walked down Kansas Avenue. After scouting all the way down to the park and back, I set up across the street in the shade. With only 45 minutes until turn-in, I had this brush painted, but had to go in afterwards and do the knife work. I started late, as I was participating in the Wine Stroll and visiting. Everyone in this town is so friendly! There was a wonderful reception afterwards for the artists - so appreciated after a full 8:00am to 7:00pm painting day! When I later talked to my parents to tell them where I had been painting, my dad had a story for me about this very bank. He and Grandma Slaughter had gone to the train station to sell a bunch of pigs when he was four years old. Grandma was payed in silver dollars - and she couldn't carry all of them in her apron. So, my dad had to carry his own load of silver dollars, holding up the bottom of his shirt to contain them! He and Grandma walked all the way down Kansas Avenue to this little bank to deposit them! Isn't this a marvelous story and isn't it something that I felt led to paint this very spot instead of all the other shops in town? It was certainly fun to walk the streets where my grandparents, great-grandparents, and great aunts and uncles had so many years ago, and really rewarding to paint a few of the local icons. This little town of 2400 people is also the
birthplace of Walt Disney, and this street is called "Main Street, USA". So nice when these little slices of Americana are preserved for future generations. This painting makes 617 in as many days and Day 8 in the
30 Day Painting Challenge.
