New and Upcoming Releases

Born in 1889 in the Smoky Mountains, Lem Ownby became one of the region's most recognized figures. Sight-impaired from an early age, Lem spent his life logging, bear hunting, farming and tending his beehives. He welcomed the arrival of logging operations into the pristine wilderness but became an eyewitness to the devastation it brought to land, streams and wildlife. As the last leaseholder living within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Lem became a legend, selling his honey and offering pearls of wisdom to hikers, writers and even the governor. Lem's principles remained solid, his opinions so unwavering that he once refused to entertain two Supreme Court justices. Enter the forest with author F. Carroll McMahan as he tells dramatic, fascinating and sometimes humorous stories of a man who lived truly on his own terms. - Elkmont's Uncle Lem Ownby: Sage of the Smokies (Natural History) Paperback – October 1, 2013 by F. Carroll McMahan

Paul & I had met many a moonshiner over our 40+years research in the Appalachian's. We have never met such a gregarious character as Popcorn Sutten. Here is just a snipit about his life and death. A great remembrance of Marvin “Popcorn” Sutton from this weekend’s edition of the Wall Street Journal. Obituary Of Marvin “Popcorn” Sutton, A Tennessee Moonshiner March 22, 2009 A scrawny, long-bearded mountain man with a foul mouth and a passing acquaintance with copper tubing and kettles, Marvin “Popcorn” Sutton seemed the embodiment of moonshiners of yore. Brought up in rural Cocke County, Tenn., identified as one of four “moonshine capitals of the world” in the corn-whiskey history “Mountain Spirits,” Mr. Sutton learned the family trade from his father. The practice goes back to the Scots-Irish, who brought it to the New World, and it wasn’t illegal until after the Civil War, says Dan Pierce, chairman of the history department at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. “This is something that legitimately is an expression of the culture of this region,” Mr. Pierce says. Like his forebears, Mr. Sutton had brushes with the law, and was first convicted of selling untaxed liquor in the early 1970s. He mostly kept out of trouble after that, though friends say his nickname came from an unfortunate encounter with a balky barroom popcorn machine. But he was well known as a distiller around his native Parrottsville. He was a familiar figure at the Misty Mountain Ranch Bed & Breakfast in nearby Maggie Valley, N.C., wearing faded overalls and with a back stooped, he said, from decades of humping bags of sugar into the hills. He picked the banjo and serenaded guests on the inn’s porch. He helped decorate the $155-a-night Moonshiner suite at the inn with some still hardware. Mr. Sutton put a modern spin on his vocation, appearing in documentaries and even penning an autobiography, “Me and My Likker.” Souvenir shops in Maggie Valley sold his video, “The Last Run of Likker I’ll Ever Make,” and even clocks with his image on them. Other moonshiners have gone legit and cashed in; a former Nascar driver and moonshiner now offers Junior Johnson’s Midnight Moon in Southern liquor stores. But Mr. Sutton insisted on earning a living the old-fashioned way, and in 2007, agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives busted him with 850 gallons of moonshine, stored in an old school bus on his property. He was convicted in 2008 and was due to report to prison Friday, his widow, Pam Sutton, told the Associated Press. Instead, facing the verdict and ill health, he was found dead by Ms. Sutton at the age of 62 on Monday, and authorities suspect carbon-monoxide poisoning, according to the AP. The Cocke County district attorney’s office said it is investigating the death. Although Tennessee was once a hotbed of moonshine and federal “revenuers” pursued bootleggers through the hills, an attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee in Greeneville says he couldn’t remember the last federal prosecution of a moonshiner. “Modern-day moonshining is the manufacture of methamphetamine,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregg L. Sullivan says. “Tennessee is in the top five states nationally.” Ms. Sutton discovered her husband in his green Ford Fairlane. “He called it his three-jug car,” she told the AP, “because he gave three jugs of liquor for it.”

Her big beautiful eyes bring you into her world. Paul’s intimate and powerful talent brings you so close to her, you could almost know what she is thinking and what she is doing or what is in her world. She lives in coal mining country deep in the woods of the Appalachian Mountains; the only girl in a long row of boys. She will break the tradition of five generations of coal miners. She’ll not be going down below with that deadly black dust. Her gentle, but knowing, look shows she is wide open to embrace the world and make a difference. She has great possibilities - non of which include the short life her forefathers have chosen." -Paul Murray- Lil' Kentucky Coal does her best to hang onto her puppy, while standing in front of her grandma's ol' cabin.

This study was ordered by someone who fell in love with the large original of "Sleeping Briar". They are a long standing client they asked if Paul had any smaller sketches of her that he would part with. Paul went into his studio and sorted through the piles of sketches and paintings that we never see. These were only meant for his reference. He picked this one and took a short while to refine it so he would be happy that the public would see it. So here it is, Now available to anyone who has the heart big enough to take her home. The great patron who ordered her, had to change his plans for his cash, such is life. A bonus for you!

Paul loves to travel Tennessee, and he loves the Amish. We visited the area in Lawrence County and had wonderful experiences seeing the old sector Amish ride in their buggies, their roadside markets and watching them planting in the fields. Paul would never take a picture of them, they don't permit it. But he couldn't help drawing this little girl. Her sweet image haunted him for many years and he did this from memory. I love the old world quality and use of light in it.

“He was always there on the farm working the horse and living among his secrets, shrouded in mystery. He wore old engineer caps and rumpled blue denim overalls. I’d marvel at his hair and beard, long, wispy and white. His face was weathered by the elements and deepened by the weight of his years. Although they both died some years ago, I have not forgotten the many things about them that have enriched by life.”......... -Paul Murray-

The original watercolor was lost in our motorhome fire in 1991. This is the only major pencil study relesed since. "I love painting old people, but I really wanted to portray young people too. It is so difficult to be given permission by the parents to paint children in Appalachia that I had almost given up hope. For so many years I attempted to paint them, but the protective barriers are very strong and very high. In Hazel Patch Hollow, near a Baptist Church, a ten year old girl named Hazel was in the field with her grandfather, some friends and neighbours. This is the one, I thought when I saw her. I had her in my head for years and then, there she was. Her hair was ragged and matted and she was looking at me with such a hopeful face, that look that can tell you a million things. I loved how she was that day, with coal dust smeared on her cheeks, her worn clothes, dirty from play. There was, as usual, a lot of mist curling in the air that day. Her grandfather was hauling coal on a sled pulled by a mule. Hazel had been helping her grandpa and playing with the other children in the field and she inspired me, this little girl, because she had so much pride in her face and that childlike need to feel special." -PAUL MURRAY-

We've known Hadae Mae for over 20 years now. We met her in a tight situation, she greeted us with her double barrel. We have gotten past that and are great friends. Even though she didn't want Paul to paint her we kept visiting. A few years ago, she up and said, well "I guess it wouldn't hurt if'n ya drew me a little". So here she is. Watch out for the original "Hadea Mae & Ol' Persuader" you'll get to see how we felt at the end of her good ol' standby "the Persuader".

Closup of painting above

" Original pencil -Work in Progress" Coming soon in print

SOLD

Coming Soon Paul’s intimate and powerful talent brings you so close to her, you could almost know what she is thinking and what she is doing or what is in her world. She lives in coal mining country deep in the woods of the Appalachian Mountains; the only girl in a long row of boys. She will break the tradition of five generations of coal miners. She’ll not be going down below with that deadly black dust. Her gentle, but knowing, look shows she is wide open to embrace the world and make a difference.” -Paul Murray- She has great possibilities - non of which include the short life her forefathers have chosen.

Hide Away Pencil