Hometown Evening

I was so lucky to grow up in Placerville in northern California, at a time when America’s villages were still vibrant and when a real sense of community comforted the town children. In fact, the right side of Hometown Evening shows my hometown of Placerville when I was young.

I remember wandering our lanes on a Sunday evening, drawn as if by magnetic attraction toward the heart of the village. There the sound of the church bells heralded an evening of worship and cars sputtered down the country roads filled with passengers who enjoyed the slowly passing scenery.

Hometown Evening – third in my Hometown Memories Collection – is enriched by intense childhood memories, although I’ve chosen to turn the clock back a few decades. I did that to heighten the nostalgia and to give myself the chance to paint my favorite vintage cars – including the oh-so-elegant 1932 Ford Coupe.

The golden lights of the town center seem to warm the cool dusk of Hometown Evening. Towering trees open up overhead like umbrellas, their covering branches enhancing the coziness of the busy Sunday evening street below. Then, as now, a hometown can be a haven of comfort and joy.