Following is a partial listing of paintings in acrylic by artist Mary Elizabeth Helvey Mitchell.
Susan and Earl, 1985, acrylic on gessoed masonite, 24" x 36".
Susan Patricia Burgess and Earl Martin Keith (grandson of the artist) were married on December 1, 1984, at Oak Ridge United Methodist Church, Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
The painting was completed in Mary's studio at home in Bristol, Tennessee, from photos and one or two sittings.
Collection: K3. Photographed by: K1.
Day's Grand Finale, 1984-5, acrylic on gessoed masonite, 20" x 24".
Mary describes this composition as a view she and her husband Trubie saw “along the highway south of East River Mountain [near Bluefield, Virginia], just before the sun dropped down behind the hills, and darkness covered the land.”
Collection: M2. Photographed by: K1.
I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes Unto the Hills…, 1983, acrylic on gessoed masonite, 16" x 20".
This landscape shows the clinic and home of Dr. Elmer Cranton, Troutdale, Virginia. Mary and Trubie Mitchell were both patients of Dr. Cranton around the time the painting was completed.
Collection: M2. Photographed by: K1.
Dow Helvey Farm, 1983, acrylic on gessoed masonite, 16" x 12".
This painting depicts the home of Mary's grandparents Dow and Sarah Helvey, in the Kimberling valley of Bland County, Virginia. The image is from memories of her childhood, informed by visits to the site near the time the painting was completed. The Helvey house (later known as the Faulkner home), in the center of the picture, had been built in 1895. A barn is seen to the right, and a springhouse beside Kimberling Creek in the foreground. Salem Methodist Church is just out of view to the left. Brushy Mountain looms in the background.
Collection: M2. Photographed by: K1.
The Trumpeter, 1982, acrylic on gessoed masonite, 24" x 36".
Mary's grandson Earl Keith is shown at the “Stone Castle,” the football field at Tennessee High School, Bristol, TN. The press box on the grandstand can be seen in the background, and the school building itself behind that. Earl, a member of Tennessee High's class of 1980, was in the trumpet section of the marching band in the fall, and in the trumpet section of the concert band during winter and spring, all under the tutelage of Tennessee High's legendary band director George Wenger.
Earl comments (November 2003): “I modeled live for the portrait both at the stadium and in Mary's front yard standing on a chair. The portrait was done as a graduation gift. I have played the trumpet from 5th grade to present. I am currently a member of our church's praise and worship team.”
Collection: K3. Photographed by: K1.
Sims-Mitchell House, 1977, acrylic on gessoed masonite, 16" x 20".
The Sims-Mitchell House in Chatham, Virginia is shown two years after the building was purchased by Mary's son and daughter-in-law, Henry and Patricia Mitchell. The painting was done on the site, and also from photographs taken by Mary's husband Trubie, which she used in completing the work in her studio at her home in Spring Garden, Virginia (9 miles from Chatham).
Collection: M2. Photographed by: K1.
Autumn Landscape, 1976, acrylic on gessoed masonite, 16" x 20".
The scene is a landscape from Pittsylvania County, Virginia, of a farm pond, with a small green-roofed white house and White Oak Mountain in the background. The location is in the Spring Garden community, along VA 707, just west of VA 640 (Spring Garden Road) at the Conway's Barns intersection, near the White Oak Mountain Wildlife Management Area. The painting was started on location, and completed in Mary's nearby studio.
At the time the painting was done, Merricks Peach Orchard, on the farm pictured in this scene, was often patronized by the Mitchells. Owners Doran and Ruth Merricks lived in the house just beyond the pond. Before the Merricks' ownership, this property had been part of the Allen and Terry families' holdings. Frank Allen Terry had been its long-time proprietor before the Merricks purchased it. The Mitchells had bought the Terry home place, and lived there for nearly 30 years.
Collection: the artist's. Photographed by: K1.
Saint John's Episcopal Church, 1975, acrylic on gessoed masonite, 20" x 24".
Saint John's Episcopal Church, Mt. Airy, Virginia, is a Gothic Revival structure from the late 1800's. Mary was captivated by the ambience of its striking appearance in a wooded glade near the intersections of VA 640 and VA 40 in Pittsylvania County.
The painting was done on location, and from photographs in Mary's studio at nearby Spring Garden, Virginia.
Collection: M2. Photographed by: K1.
Winter's Hush, ca. 1973, acrylic on gessoed masonite, 20" x 16".
Mary painted this scene as she saw it from her kitchen window at Spring Garden, Virginia, on a snowy day. She is looking north toward the back of the old Allie Terry store building.
Collection: K2. Photographed by: K1.
Collections represented:
Photographed by:
This webpage is sponsored by Mitchells Publications and the Sims-Mitchell House B&B (home of the M2 collection listed above), Chatham, Virginia.
Images copyright © 1977–2005 Mary Elizabeth Helvey Mitchell.
Text copyright © 2002–2005 Patricia B. Mitchell.