Shine Still – Levi , Pencil

“I’s Build me a cabin if only I could, I’d make me a shine still deep in the wood, I’d get me a plough mule and work ‘em June thru ‘til May, reckin’ you won’t find me ‘til judgement day.” “I Feel close to Levi. He has a particular way about him. We took to each other the first time we met, and I feel very comfortable with him. He calls me “Buddy”. Levi is the traditional old-timer from Tennessee. There is a very soft side to this man, something very youthful, His beard falls to his chest and he runs his hand over the bottom of it every mow and again, making me think, that the beard is meant to hide his innate shyness. He’s suspicious of people and I can just picture him making moonshine in those mountains. He’s got real pride in his banjo playing, which he is well known for. He talks often of his blockading and his coal mining days. He was exactly what I wanted to paint.” -Paul Murray-