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This painting of John Oliver’s Cabin
shows the cozy Smoky Mountain cabin at the very height of
spring’s green explosion. Note the “spackled” sunlight scattered
across the little cabin and yard that creates the feeling of
airy openness and springtime freshness. The mother bear and cub
approach the split-rail fence and rest there a while as if
waiting for a meal at the dinner table. The dogwoods bloom and
the robin sings. These mountain creatures are easy to find in
this beautiful and exquisite painting, but can you find the
raccoon? Gaze at this painting a few moments and you can almost
smell that special spicy aroma of the mountain evergreens and
flowering flora that can only be found in the Great Smokies.
The split-rail fence is the same as those that surrounded
several dozen other homesteads in the Cove a century ago. The
Oliver family bought land in the Cove in 1826 and this cabin
site remained in the family until the Great Smoky Mountains
National Park was established. This house is typical of many
found on the eastern frontier in the mid-1850s, and reflects the
skills and techniques brought into the mountains by descendents
of British and European immigrants.
Privacy in the home was rare. Life centered in the main room.
Children were welcomed.
Available in 16”x20”
and smaller |
