Egg Tempera, 2000

Dimensions: 16” x 20”

A former schoolteacher, Harding Ison lives in a place called Kingdom Come, in Letcher County, Kentucky. He leads a simple life, farming his land with his mules or by hand. Though officially retired from teaching, he still has a wealth of knowledge that he continues to pass on to the many visitors who come by to pass the time, to talk and listen, to observe, to learn. Our old friend, Harding Ison, exemplified the Appalachian ways. He would never consider solving a problem by going out and buying something new if he could devise a solution using what was at hand. His house and grounds were a crazy quilt of repurposed materials, and a never-ending source of inspiration to me, both personally and artistically.