The past couple of days while shutting of my plotter I have glanced over at my numbered print that I won in a Letterville draw from Shep.
Just made me stop and think about how people like him who made this board a colorful place to "hang out" over the years, are no longer here on a daily basis, but have left a definate mark on the letterhead community and Letterville.
Guys like Rick Glawson, Arvil Shepherd, and Pat King just to name a few. I really do miss thier input and creativety.
[ June 16, 2009, 05:46 PM: Message edited by: Bob Rochon ]
Posted by Sonny Franks (Member # 588) on :
My '57 Chevy Shep print hangs right over my computer where I can enjoy it every day. He was a total class act and we'll miss him.............
Posted by Todd Gill (Member # 2569) on :
I remember Shep's amazing illustration skills, and his faith as well. Those of you with samples of his work are very lucky.
Sonny, can you post a pic of that 57 Chevy? I don't think I've seen that and would enjoy taking a gander....I bet it's very nice work - Shep style.
Posted by Mark Fair Signs (Member # 289) on :
I too miss Shep. He was a true southern gentleman among artists and I am proud to own 3 of his prints. Shep stopped by my shop and gave me a quick lesson on his faux wood techniques.
The man was a true master.
Posted by TJ Duvall (Member # 3133) on :
Funny I should read this post today. My sister and brother-in-law had the pleasure of living in the same town as Shep.(They are moving out of "Mayberry" today.) but while they were there my brother-in-law had the chance to spend the last few months being around Shep while he was still here. He told me "there were very few like him". My dad even has a portrait that Shep drew for him of Andy Griffith. During one visit i was able to see a mural that Shep had done on the side of a Subway shop. I miss him and didn't even know him.
Posted by Joe Cieslowski (Member # 2429) on :
Tod,
here's the 57 Chevy......I won it in a raffle at John Smiths meet............He certainly was very generous!!!
I remember him fondly as well, even tho we never met.
Joe,
Makin Chips and Havin Fun!
Posted by Todd Gill (Member # 2569) on :
Thanks so much for posting that picture Joe - - WOW!..... Shep's amazing me from the 'great beyond.'
I enjoyed his portfolio postings immensely... just look at the texture in that metal bumper... it reflects where it needs to, and has a visual 'knee banging hard' steel feel on the lower portion where it wraps from front to side - - - what a truly gifted illustrator.
Thanks again.
Posted by old paint (Member # 549) on :
i was fortunate .....i got to spend a few hours in his presence. and i remember them well. he was one of those..........you would luv to spend a lifetime around. i miss him. i also have the 57 chev hangin on the door to my office......... i also miss pat king, who sent me a car tag with FLORIDA LETTERHEADS, its right near sheps 57.
Posted by George Perkins (Member # 156) on :
I miss both Shep and Pat and think of them quite often.
Posted by Sonny Franks (Member # 588) on :
Todd, it's hard to see in the photo, but perched on the bumper near the tire is a butterfly. Shep told me he often put a butterfly in his work........
Posted by roger bailey (Member # 556) on :
I'm with ya's, He comes to my mind often, keep the 50 olds "field find" print in my home shop. He lives on for even more reasons in the hearts of others.
Roger
Posted by old paint (Member # 549) on :
can we see that one roger?
Posted by roger bailey (Member # 556) on :
Sure O.P. I'm takeing some digitals of some graphic demos and testing for our Caterpillar account anyway. I'll shoot a couple and have my wonderful wife post em for ya. Its a rendering by Shep of an old rusty 50 olds in the weeds.
Roger
Posted by George Perkins (Member # 156) on :
I've got both the Olds and the 57. The Old's is my favorite as it had a story behind it. It seems the car was bought by a farmer new in 1950. The transmission went out on it a few years later. The farmer parked it where it sat for some forty years when Shep painted it!
Shep was not only a great artist by one heck of a raconteur
[ June 18, 2009, 07:45 PM: Message edited by: George Perkins ]
Posted by Dave Grundy (Member # 103) on :
I never met Shep..but always enjoyed his posts and was in awe of his work.
Does anyone know what ever happened to his car/motorbike/tricycle project?
Posted by Todd Gill (Member # 2569) on :
Sonny - LOL... now I see it - - I didn't notice it before, that's funny.
Thanks for the insight.
Posted by Joe Cieslowski (Member # 2429) on :
Sorry for the quality of the shot.....I don't have time to remove it from the frame......here is a close-up of the butterfly...
Joe,
Makin Chips and Havin Fun!
Posted by John Lennig (Member # 2455) on :
going to Shep's wood graining workshop in '04 was a real treat for me...he was so very helpful and enthusiastic...i'd just stand back and watch Shep and his old friends all talk at once, each telling their own jokes and stories!! projects, music,food, and Mayberry Days...great memories of a very fine guy.
Posted by Chris Elliott (Member # 1262) on :
Big Top John, like you, I really enjoyed the time we spent at Shep's first wood graining workshop. (although I think it was in 2002 instead of 2004 AND I don't remember you standing back much, you were usually in the middle of whatever was going on!)
Regardless, when I got my '57 Chevy print from Shep, he mentioned that if you knew what you were looking at, you not only knew that the car was a '57 Chevy, you also knew what state it was first sold in and where the car was sitting when it was painted.
Of course, being Shep, he let me try to figure that out for awhile before he finally explained that since it had a one-piece bumper, it was a California car (Chevy used a three-piece front bumper on cars produced for the rest of the states)and that exact Butterfly was only found in California, AND, if you noticed the reflections in the chrome of the beach scene, you'd know that the answer to all of the questions above was "California".
I've never bothered to verify any of those details as facts because, true or not, Shep did such a beautiful job of telling me the story behind the original painting that I realized that although we think we understand what we're seeing, there's always more to learn.
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