Bleckley Cabin on Spring Lake

Doris was fascinated with old wooden buildings and the stories they held between their decaying walls. This cabin was built by Josie and Frank Bleckley in the 1890s high on Rabun Bald Mountain in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Far Northeast Georgia. Many years and 11 children later their farm and their long abandoned cabin became the site of Spring Lake Community where Tom and Doris bought a cabin of their own. Before the cabin gradually fell apart and was replaced by a community pavilion, Doris captured its memories in this painting.

Forgotten Memories

The sagging red roof on the old barn must have sheltered long gone farm animals and equipment and feed along with the hopes of the family that grew there. And the impression of a road in the grasses to the left if the barn must lead to an unknowable number of untold and forgotten memories.

On Wayah Bald

This moss covered cabin stands as a shelter on Wayah Bald Mountain near Franklin, NC. Once it housed the families of forest rangers and probably occasional exhausted hikers from the Appalachian Trail that crosses the peak of the mountain. Doris’ son Thomas painted this one as he studied with his aging mother, spending precious time together. She would make corrections and improvements along the way, so essentially, this is a collaboration.

Lick Log Mill

Lick Log Grist Mill no longer turns, but the cabins surrounding it still stand in a rhododendron thicket along the road between Dillard, GA and Highlands, NC. Any time Doris saw a mysterious old cabin or barn she would insist we stop the car so she could take a photo of the wood siding or a tin roof or a stone chimney that at some later time may become part of a painting.

Scoville Mill Covered Bridge

This lovely little covered bridge, built in 1895, is located in the North Georgia foothills. When we first visited Doris was enamored with the tranquility of the scene as her grandchildren splashed in the stream below.