Willard Gayheart, Appalachian Artist

Willard Gayheart is a gifted pencil artist, songwriter and musician. He owns an art and frame shop, The Front Porch Gallery, in Woodlawn, Virginia, and divides his time between music and drawing. Writer and researcher Donia S. Eley is based in Pulaski, Virginia. An avid music lover and art collector, she devotes much of her free time to causes throughout and beyond the New River Valley, among them the preservation and perpetuation of art, music, land conservation and Appalachian culture.

“you will look at a pencil with respect from now on! Every page of this book evokes emotion from the reader”—Blue Ridge Traditions; “beautifully presents nearly a hundred drawings spanning Gayheart’s artistic life...well-written introduction”—Watauga Mountain Times; “finely detailed pictures of people and scenes typical of life in the southern mountain region...one of the most prolific and recognizable artists in his genre”—Goldenseal.

• TABLE OF CONTENTSAcknowledgments      Preface      Introduction      Early Life and Family      Beginning a New Career      Getting to Know the Artist      The Artist and His Music      Techniques of the Artist      Drawing on the Appalachian Experience      Appalachian Values      The Art of Willard Gayheart      Bibliography      Index