Full Description
North Carolina artist Stephen Shoemaker and writer Janet Pittard have teamed up to present a selection of Shoemaker's paintings and drawings and the stories behind them. Known for his dramatic railroad paintings and scenes of life in the Blue Ridge mountains, Shoemaker shares the thought processes involved in creating his artwork, reveals his sources of inspiration (which often include events in local history or personal experiences) and points out clues and symbols appearing in his art. Together with 48 images, several of which were created especially for this publication, and occasional short poems by Pittard, the lively storytelling sheds light on an artist's development as well as the unique culture and history of the mountain region served by the train called the Virginia Creeper, which ran from Abingdon, Virginia, to Elkland, North Carolina (now Todd), from the early 1900s through the mid-1970s.
Contents
Table of Contents
Cut at Devil's Stairs deletefront cover
Milepost from Cut at Devil's Stairs
Acknowledgments
"To Be a Train"
Preface
The Virginia Creeper Series
The Virginia Creeper's Route
Virginia Creeper
Derailing the Virginia Creeper
Lost and Found
Tracks and Tricycles
Backstreet Station
Water, Water, Everywhere
Pine Medley and Harry Lee Miller
Potbellied Stove
Another Satisfied Customer
Another Satisfied Customer
Buddy Blackburn and the Goat Wagon
Free Enterprise
Snap Till You Drop, Another Buddy
Blackburn Story
Snap Till You Drop
The Carnival on the Old Ball Diamond
The Old Ball Diamond
Snow Days at Barr Hill
Snow Days at Barr Hill
Whose God Is Their Belly
Lilly Dell Walker Shoemaker (1872-1966)
Pappy's Garden
J.C. Brown
Marjorie Brown
Apple Tree
Pappy and Me
The Future Holds the Past
Pappy and Me
"The Future Holds the Past"
My Favorite Christmas
Christmas Memory
Summer Days
War on Wilton Avenue
Elkland Station—Todd
Elkland Station—Todd
In Range
A Life and Death Situation
The Last Ham Biscuit
The Last Ham Biscuit
Virginia Creeper at Lansing
Riding the Ties
Virginia Creeper at Stikes Hollar
New River Landing
New River Landing
The Ride of My Life
The Ride of My Life, Another Buddy
Blackburn Story
Band Practice
Band Practice
The Flying Maestro (Becky Burgess)
Gert's
What Might Have Been
The Diner from Gert's
My First Car
"The Ticket Window"
The Ticket Window
"Crossings"
Virginia Creeper Crossing Sign
503rd MP
The Boy Who Got What He Asked
For
Cooper Farm at Brownwood
Remnants of the Past
Barn on Railroad Grade Road
"A Barn on Railroad Grade Road"
Big Horse Creek at Ripshin
Big Horse Creek at Ripshin
Skull from Big Horse Creek at Ripshin
"Secrets"
Dog Creek Mill
Dog Creek Mill
Bread of Angels
Bread of Angels
Cut at Devil's Stairs (mural)
Cut at Devil's Stairs
Cut at Devil's Stairs (painting)
Halfway Rock
"Halfway Rock"
New River Crossing
Taking in the Scene
Tuckerdale Church
Imagine This
Barlow Knife
The New Beginning
The Long Goodbye
Feathered Friends
From the Artist: Stephen Shoemaker
From the Writer: Janet Pittard
Margie's Tree
Index
