Southern American Realism

 This is the old church that stood near the Dickson/Cheatham county line. It was torn down about two years after I finished the painting. Loved looking at it in the late afternoon. It was established around 1870. A very funny story concerning one of the first pastors..... he was new to the country and lived in a log house right down the road which the church furnished. He wanted to plant a garden so the local members told him that it was important to water the plants everyday in order for anything to come up and grow. One day while it was raining, they noticed him in the garden with an umbrella watering the newly planted garden.....he took what they had told him to heart. This is a true stroy and documented in the church history log. I felt a need to do this painting because if I didn't, I was going to injure myself. On my way home from the gallery every fall afternoon, I found myself looking back at the church as I passed it.....almost running off the road several times. There was some urgency in this painting.