Not all Back-Roads West Virginia are dirt and far from the main highway. Sometimes, the back road is a side street in a well-known town, like Thomas in Tucker County.

Thomas is known for its vibrant art culture, but there is an artist living in the community who has not received his due recognition because his art does not fit into the contemporary vein of that on Front Street. His name is Ernest “Ernie” Gabler. Ernie is in his 80s, but he still has the energy to create portraits, florals, and landscapes in his mancave/studio outside his home on Euclid Avenue.

I stumbled across his place while driving back from an interview elsewhere in Thomas. It was a good find. Ernie’s story will appear in my Wandering Back-Roads Tucker County book, and a short version recently appeared in the Tucker County Observer, a monthly nonprofit community newspaper.

Those writings do not capture the details of either the paintings or the stories behind them. For that, I turned to video. You can watch it here.

Wandering Back-Roads Tucker County is due out by the end of 2024. In the meantime, explore the other volumes in the book series elsewhere on this site and amazon.com.