Saturday, May 8, 2010

Old Driftwood

Old Station Driftwood Texas, 8 x 10
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This morning, Plein Air Austin met in Driftwood, about twenty miles southwest of Austin. This gas station is one I recently drove by, so I was glad PAA had a paintout scheduled here. While painting today, a former local, who was attending a church fair on the property I was painting from, came up to chat. It turned out he was a third generation Driftwood resident who knew all about this Texaco station. To him, this was once a johnny-come-lately. He remembered that, as a boy, before it was an old gas station, it was Driftwood's post office. Learning this might explain the sign overhanging the front steps, which reads,"Driftwood Elev. 1045. " Signs like this were typical identifiers at old postal stops. On the other hand, it might be that as gasoline was first becoming available to rural America, some old post offices in the narrowest of wide spots in the road might have taken on double duty for some time. I wonder if this was one of them.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

I love old gas stations like this. What a treasure trove of inspirational sites you must have in your area. I love this painting!

LindaHunt said...

Interesting. Love this painting and the memory it evokes! I am from the West and remember passing so many of these old stations.

Anonymous said...

a great painting...just love the red and greens in this one!

Trevor Lingard said...

Hi Stephen
A fasinating story and a painting I like very much.
A great subject. Nothing like this in the UK.
Best Regards

Laurel Daniel said...

This is SOOOOOOO great!!! You really got it, the feeling, the era, all of it. Bravo!

Gwen Bell said...

Great job on the old station! What a nice nostalgic reminder of a less hectic time in life. Feel like I can walk right in an buy a 5c Nehi Grape and a Fire Stick.

Kate Merriman said...

I'm jealous that you painted this - but love the story and how the painting came out - nicely done!

Stephen Parker said...

Thanks, Kate, but you can't be jealous of just me. There were lots of us out there painting the station, and I'm sure we weren't the first.

In any case, if you go out and paint it on a day with good light, I know any lingering jealousy will be obliterated forever.