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Artist: Tim O'Connor of Twentynine Palms, CA |
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Artist Tim O'Connor's colorful tribute to Johnnie Hastie features his original 1928 Chevrolet 12-passenger bus, complete with wood burning stove and chickens on the cargo roof. Also in the mural are two early landmarks of Twentynine Palms: the original Kenney's Drug Store and the Chevron gas station. The scene of downtown Twentynine Palms of the 1940s-50s era, with its sand streets and open skyline, is painted in such minute detail, with even a miniature 25-mph speed limit sign, that it almost conjures the feeling of a Disneyland backdrop. And Hastie's original "bus" was such a work of art in itself, that visitors to the wall may think it simply sprang from the artist's imagination, rather than being the portrait of a Real invention by an ingenious desert pioneer. "I guess Johnnie Hastie was UPS, Parcel Post, Fed Ex, and Greyhound all wrapped up in one in those days," Tim O'Connor said of his mural subject. "He was one unbelievable pioneer... one of the unsung heroes of Twentynine Palms." |
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A longtime resident and former student of Twentynine Palms High School who married a native daughter, the former Pam Beller, O'Connor is a versatile artist and businessman. He heads O'Connor Graphics & Screenprinting with wife Pam, and they make their home with daughter Katie and son Keenan here in Twentynine Palms. O'Connor is also known for his political and editorial cartoons, some of which appear locally in The Sun Runner Magazine and The Desert Trail newspaper, along his Fergie & Floyd cartoon strip, and for his fine graphic illustrations and pen and ink art works. O'Connor's first official mural undertaking was Twentynine Palms Mural #6, a tribute to Flying Constable Jack Cones, in January 1996. O'Connor was later commissioned to paint several subsequent murals, including four indoor murals aboard the Marine Corps Base, one for the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, CA, and the Johnnie Hastie mural in Twentynine Palms in February 1998. |
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Any software, images, webpages, text, and other materials that are made available to use, view, or download from the http://www.oasisofmurals.com are the copyrighted work of Michael Collins or Vickie Waite or are public domain as noted and cannot be used without express permission of either Michael Collins or Vickie Waite.. |
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