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Daddy's Moon Pie

• Dimensions: 9½" x 11" ( $18.95 )

A memorable event in Willingham's life was when her dad, sheathed in black coal dust, would come home after a long, hard day in the mines. Hopeful to find a sweet leftover, the children would rummage the lunch box which they had just snatched from the tired, calloused hands of their dad. In past times in the mountains or rural areas of Appalachia, "store-bought" treats were scarce in a household. A favorite snack of coal miners was a Moon Pie which often was purposefully left untouched.

This work is dedicated to the memory of Benny Willingham and his 28 fellow coal miners who lost their lives on April 06, 2010, in West Virginia.

Redbuds in Bloom

• Dimensions: 7½" x 8" ( $13.95 )

Mountain Christmas

• Dimensions: 8" x 11" ( $17.95 )

Woodland Surprise

• Dimensions: 8½" x 9" ( $15.95 )

Papaw's Dance Lesson

• Dimensions: 26" x 19"
• Limited Edition (400)

Black Mountain, Kentucky's Tallest Treasure

• Dimensions: 7" x 10"

In this work, there is a sense that the viewer is actually standing atop a mountain, peering through foreground tree branches and a veil of mist that gently covers the mountaintops in the distance.

Country Home on the Creek

• Dimensions: 10" x 14"

During the mid 1980's, Barbara painted this rustic home place located at Meadow Creek in Whitley County, KY. She lived in this house with her son, Darren, and her husband, Larry Hill. It was from Meadow Creek that she drove the backroads to attend Cumberland College. While at the country home on the creek Barbara composed and painted Still Life with Dipper and Mountain Delivery.

Still Life with Dipper

• Dimensions: 14" x 23"
• Dimensions: 9½" x 14"

Barbara remembers the time during her rural upbringing when there was a real sense of neighborly trust. During and after periods of work or play outside the home, gulps of refreshing well or spring-dipped water were taken, and the dipper, shared by family and neighbors alike, was hurriedly deposited back into the old water bucket.

Time Expired

• Dimensions: 16" x 22" (limited edition of 950)
• Dimensions: 8" x 10" (open edition)

A watercolor depiction of an authentic past-time restaurant in Corbin, KY. "Time Expired" is now available in limited edition print.

Old Railroad Bridge

• Limited Edition of 650
• Dimensions: 18" x 24"

London Hall, 1940s

• Limited Edition of 350 at 13½" x 20"
• Open Edition size at 8½" x 12¾"

Fallen Rebel

• Dimensions: 9" x 12"

The watercolor original of The Fallen Confererate began as a challenge to me when I saw a photo of a cannon in an old magazine. Having enjoyed painting tarnished metal objects in other works, I had the inspiration to begin.

Evening Peace

• Dimensions: 17" x 12"

Landscape scene near Corbin, Kentucky

White Church

• Dimensions: 11" x 15"

White church near Corbin, Kentucky

Laurel Lake

• Limited Edition of 500
• Dimensions: 10" x 14"

On a visit to Laurel Lake near Corbin, KY, I was inspired to paint the tranquil scene. Using watercolor as the medium of the original, this painting was the first completed of the four paintings titled the Yellow Squash Series. The original Laurel Lake has been sold and is in a private collection.

Scott Chapel

• Limited Edition of 1000
• Dimensions: 16" x 22"

Built in the 1920's, still perched upon the rocks so deftly placed beneath it, the Scott Chapel church house became for me a labor of love.

I first saw Scott Chapel on a drive through the Laurel County countryside with friends in 1997. The weathered boards and rusty, torn metal roof, sparked my artist nature to take on the challenge. I attempted to portray Scott Chapel's steadfastness -- it had withstood the test of time gracefully.

Scott Chapel is one of the four in the Yellow Squash Series. The watercolor original is in a private collection.

Mountain Delivery

• Limited Edition of 1000
• Dimensions: 16" x 22"

At the request of a friend to paint a picture of the friend's father-in-law who had been a mail carrier, I composed the oil painting. The painting depicts Delbert Pennington upon Old Gray in the year 1931, as the pair descend an Eastern Kentucky mountain. In Mountain Delivery, I hoped to reveal the Appalachian spirit of endurance necessary to cope with the challenges faced in the rural environment. One of the Yellow Squash Series, the original Mountain Delivery remains in my personal collection.

Crossing the Cumberland to Garden

• Limited Edition of 500
• Dimensions: 15" x 22"

From a story told to me by my mother Thelma (Feltner) Willingham, I began this watercolor original. Mother often told of her having lived in Harlan County, KY, with her grandparents and of crossing the Cumberland River to get to the garden. The river divided the farm, and swinging bridges were the means of getting to the other side. The young girl on the bridge represents my mother as she ventured across to help Grandpa with the garden chores. The original remains in my personal collection.