Born in Indian Mill, West Virginia in 1901, Shields Landon Jones has been referred to as “one of the last of the generation of contemporary folk art masters…”. Before retirement, S.L. worked as a carpenter-foreman for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. One of his passions was playing the banjo and the fiddle, which he taught himself to play. He began drawing and painting in 1967, after his retirement, and carving shortly thereafter. His work was first “discovered” by Herbert W. Hemphill at a Charleston, W. Va. historical display in 1972. In an interview on the Today show in 1989, he said “I just love to do the work… I meet lots of people.” His work is included in several renowned folk art collections, including the American Folk Art Museum and the National Museum of American Art at the Smithsonian. In his later years, when we was unable to carve any more, S.L. made pastel and pen drawings of faces, cats, pigs and horses. He passed away in 1997 at the age of 96.