This is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting In a lot of ways, David is the most ordinary person in the world.

And in a lot of ways He's also a very extraordinary person I think he tries to be uncomplicated You know, he he tries to keep his life as simple as he can But obviously, there are things going around in his head that are not simple.

As I like to say, our relationship transcended a marriage and became this great friendship And so I really do know him, but I wouldn't ever want to put words in his mouth And you probably aren't going to get them out of his mouth So, there.

[John Nakashima laughs] I'm going to try [Laughs] Good luck.

[Curious music] [gate sounds] [David Riffle] Getting out of the Marine Corps and what to do.

You know, what to do.

I was traveling with friend, Harold went to Europe and we got to see some art, some real art.

One trip we bought rail passes and we're in in Europe for about five weeks traveling around and is actually studying art The major goal was to hit every art museum we could all over Europe.

[Curious music continues] [David Riffle] It's something that I have to do It's like a nervious itch, that you've got to scratch.

I have no control over it.

I have to do it.

It's a love.

It's a love of creating something I think it's something along that line so love of creating and - and a “have to ” thing, you know I have no choice.

I have to do it.

He was at West Virginia Tech and he was on a football scholarship but he had received a number of from his friends in Vietnam.

You know, enough information to know what was going on over there and how hard and horrible it was And then he did this heroic thing where he thought he should be there helping them or with them.

And so he... you know, and he would tell it, And he would tell it, “I thought I was failing math.

” Well, I think he was getting a C and he was one of the first string football players for (WV) Tech.

I mean, it was there on a full ride scholarship.

And he he I don't even know if he finished the semester, but he went and signed up to be a marine.

I was at, umm I was in country, in Vietnam, for ten months, The Tet Offensive started.

and you were in Da Nang and a first rocket came in?

Yeah, in 68/69 I was like in De Nang I was walking my post and when they started they were going to take the base Yeah, they hit the fuel pit, the bomb dumps and when they hit one of those big fuel tanks, huge tanks and this was almost a mile away.

It was - And it knocked me flat on my ass If you ever heard if you ever hear a round go over your head, It's sort of snaps like a like that sound barrier.

[Nora Riffle, daughter] Because know there is some paintings that are a little, you know, dark or a little like I look at it and I feel like - There's a couple of pieces that I did when I first got back that were were actually pretty dark Yeah.

and it was like a - aaaa - [Deep breath sigh] [taps table] Yeah [sadly] So... Yeah, well Vietnam wasn't a good place to be It wasn't - I didn't...

I was young and naive.

So I'm glad I got - survived it and got back.

Like a lot of people didnt.

But I got, I got back and I got back in school and that was important Used the GI Bill, got back in school went to (WV) State I continued my art and, you know, it was, it was good.

That's - and moved to Poca River [mystery music] He needed the - the trailer was very good for him It was a great spot.

That was his trailer.

It was again, a safe space.

I mean, he had this space where he could be and do exactly what he wanted, and that was what he needed.

And that was that was post-Vietnam And that was really where he lived during his schooling.

He went to (WV) State and finished his degree.

And it was a well-known fact that on Saturdays Harold would arrive with a case or two of the cheapest beer in the world And Harold and who else was?

Clinton Pauli and Herb Durr and David would just spend Saturday at the trailer A great place, actually, to live I love living on Poca River.

Yeah.

And, uh, eventually I painted the vines on the trailer which went [sound of something going in a circle] [laughs] all the way around.

And the trailer was an inexpensive place to live, Yeah.

And I lived there for 19 years in the trailer [laughs] which is pretty cool, actually.

He is truly, deeply of West Virginia And one thing he told me I remember this when we met, He said, more people in West Virginia per capita own houses he said,because there's trailers And it was really a point of pride You know, I own a place to live It really speaks about self-reliance you get by with what you can, with what little you have.

And there's that dedication and tenacity in that type of lifestyle that a lot of people don't understand.

[bittersweet piano music] [soft moan] [Ric Ambrose] It's a 1960 style trailer where he merges the idea of fantasy and reality into one.

If you after you look at his work and it's highly imaginative but it's real.

[bittersweet piano music continues] [low under breath] Hmm.

Huh.

Geeze.

[quit laughter] I never understood artist statements.

You know, I think a lot of people become artists because theyre non-verbal.

We don't ask novelists to illustrate their novels.

You don't ask a jazz musician why he went from G minor to A sharp.

You know, why?

Why do you ask people who are non-verbal to explain their art?

The viewer has a responsibility also when they come to an exhibit.

[thoughtful acoustic guitar] [Ric Ambrose] What he created was very personal.

I think his space, his studio was a metaphor for creativity and longing.

The trailer was a safe haven from the outside world.

The outside world is the world he - not necessarily Appalachia, but beyond And he very comfortable portraying the trailer, the vines I mean, it's right there.

He just re-purposed it into his own personal iconography.

And even though it seems to read immediately Appalachian or regional, he transcends it, to a unique level, a very innovative personal level.

[thoughtful acoustic guitar continues] Meanwhile, I think he views the trailer sort of maybe just a little bit tongue in cheek.

Like “I live in a trailer and I'm going to use this as my subject and this is what my artwork is going to be about for a long time.

” It's about the trailer.

Yeah, his home.

And then they built this huge trailer park next to his trailer and he kind of made a surrealistic landscape with it And I think he did several versions of it.

One of them is at Taylor Books now.

[Ric Ambrose] It really says a lot and that he effectively combine a lot of his personal imagery and his views, whether they were political, environmental or personal into one cohesive but yet very chaotic scene.

The lighting was surreal.

[thoughtful acoustic guitar cont Oh, he had a dog named Star [fun, curious music] [David Riffle] Amazing Animal.

[laughs] He did a couple of amazing things.

Actually he went in front of me.

He was my snake dog.

He was very protective, but he was Irish setter and Norwegian elk hound.

He loved Star and Star went everywhere with him, everywhere.

You know, he didn't, leave home without Star.

You know, maybe David was a little bit like Star in that way I'm not sure.

I mean, you know, Star was a little bit of a loner David was kind of a loner.

They they came together.

I don't know if he identified through the dog.

[David Riffle] and, oh, a couple things he did that were amazing.

He was a very cool animal.

One time I was walking out Harveys Creek we were walking down the hollow he was several feet, maybe five or six feet in front of me And he come up on a ground hog [laughs] And he just snatched him behind the collar and started shaking him.

I'm going “Star!

Let it go!

” And so he put it down and the ground hog was a bit stunned.

So we just sort of walked by it.

[laughs] [lute music] He was a bigger dog.

He probably was 14/15 years old He was getting skinny and he was so - um yeah.

And he had I'm sure he had cancer.

He wandered off and I knew he was gone.

I did a couple of paintings, but One is a crane there, and I was in the trailer I dug a hole The crane lifted the trailer up like a grave.

And they're dropping the trailer in the hole with me in the trailer, dead, you know.

It was like the casket, and Star was large in the background.

Of course,he always was large in the background.

[lute music continues] David did the painting again, and this time it was all black.

[David Riffle] Star was bones and the trailer was just the frame of it all the skin was off of the trailer.

[Ellie Schaul] And I think he did a couple of those paintings, a great big one, with the bones wrapped around the trailer But then he did a smaller one too and I think he did that work with the bones, his bones, Stars bones for maybe a year or two, before he got it out of his system.

[mysterious music] [Ellie Schaul] When he did those surreal works with the ribbons running through the cars and and the ribbons running through whatever, it was telling me, when I look at it that he was trying to figure out what he was all about, you know, Where am I going from here?

I think it was the vines that were really dominant in his work.

where I think the one painting which shows it wrapped around the trailer.

Just like a shroud.

And then you can see barely the kitchen windows with warm orange color as like something that's going on inside the trailer.

And, you know, it's Dave working hard at his work and the outside world is murky, dark, it's foreboding And this vine is all over.

It's the kudzu.

I think he was intrigued by the shape just like he does with this tree, things that he does [marumba music] For a lot of years.

He just did pieces of vines that were big.

and we would sell them and people loved them.

But he got tired of doing them.

So we would say to to David, when are we going to have more When are we going to have more vines?

And he said, “Im not doing any more.

” He doesn't create for the public and he doesn't create to sell his work He creates for himself.

Eventually I bought the property at Harveys Creek and I built the log house out there and I sort of went back and forth.

70 acres out at Harveys Creek in Lincoln County, He split it with a wonderful neighbor.

And then he picked the parcel that is so far up the hill, that so much of time you cant get a vehicle up there because the back tires slip and you can't you just can't get And what he said was, I just wanted to go away.

When I came home, I wanted to go away.

I wanted to crawl into a cave and be somewhere else.

And I think that was I think that was a light for him I think he needed that.

I think it was really important.

[fast mandolin music] [Ellie] You have to park at the bottom of the mountain And then you have to hike up.

And when you get there, it's amazing.

It's all built from recycled whatever he could find.

We used to gather out there once a year.

And wed all bring food and we'd day and we hike through the wood And David would take us through and show us all his treasures that he found-a vacant cemetary or a wild herd of goats Or whatever.

And we would all spend the day and have a grand time.

Yeah.

Thats always been my - way back back of my mind.

The adventure of it all.

the coming from down there up here.

And then it's sort of a getting away and seeing different things and it's like going through that mirror.

That bubble and you see the bubble burst.

I did a painting of “Living on the edge of a burst ” and its a global thing, but doing something painting or an idea of West Virginia children's story, For example, just things have happened up here.

[Nora Riffle] I remember were taking a walk to our normal - We called it the top of the world, because it's, because it's a big field, big clearing.

And we're taking a walk up there and all of a sudden we hear something in the woods and we're like, “what?

” And I just remember that There was a like, it was everything was And then all of a sudden it was we saw this horse and the horse came right up to us And then it followed us and it was very friendly.

Yeah, just like a puppy dog, it wasnt - and like very tame.

It was very tame and so weird because it was random on the mountain.

And, and then it followed us to the clearing and mom and the horse ran around the clearing And while we watched, they ran I remember seeing them run together and then it followed us back down to the house.

Oh, yeah.

We almost had to shoo it away.

Well and it wanted to come in the house Oh that's right.

Yeah.

Do you remember that.

Yeah.

It was following us right into into the door of the house, Into the front door into the door of the house, and we were feeding it Cheez-Its [Laughter] Yeah, yeah, it course we had Cheez-Its Cheez-Its.

Yeah.

Our favorite dessert.

Yes!

But stuff like that is sort of amazing - that a lot of people haven't seen I think David is very interested in what can happen You know, what might happen.

And if nothing happens, it's going to be a nice little rowboat ride And if something happens, it's going to be a lot more exciting.

And yeah, when I think about David with nature he is always waiting and looking for the unexpected.

He's really patient.

[birds and forest sounds] Yeah, the pond down there, it stays muddy all the time.

And I think the deer get in there and swim I swear to God.

Cause it never clears up [birds and forest sounds] On one of our walks at Harveys Creek Nora and I found this car.

It was a long walk, It was on Climber's Creek.

I think back on the hill in a field And it'd been sitting there long enough to sink the tires into the ground almost like halfway up and it was almost on the ground.

Eventually I painted it and its carved out of polyurethane is the foundation for the carving of the painting.

[Nora] Growing up for me it was okay, I had friends with parents that did nothing like what you and Mom do, right?

It was lawyers, doctors, whatever it may be.

[David] 9-5 For me, that was like my parents are different, first of all.

And with Mom too, I think like that was the calling.

Like we make it work because we love what we do.

Yeah, you're going to do it no matter what.

And, and, and I think it was when you were started to school and I needed to make some money.

[laugher] I needed to start making some money because I wasn't I wasn't contributing enough to the to the family.

So I had to sort of go off and start finding something to do you know, like using all your skills to make make a living.

Yeah, he was - he is an amazing parent And I think for a long time, you know, I think it's - I won't say it weighed on him I think he was conscious of it.

I won the (WV) Jurried Exhibition 3 different times which is two $2,000/$3,000 prize And, you know, it helps, but it doesnt It's thin, it goes thin real fast.

[laughs] And I won several awards locally and small shows and stuff but I learned quickly to do something else to make money.

And I'm not saying it's impossible and probably some case its very possible It wont... wee [sounds of trying to start a gas weed eater] wee [sound of Davids heavy breathing] wee [laughs/groans] [sounds of trying to start a gas weed eater] wee [laughs/groans] I like doing other things, even my grass or weeding.

And another thing I think about is I think as is exercise, you know I feel like I'm getting paid to exercise, instead of going to - my brother goes to the rec center in South Charleston And works out.

I get work, I get paid work out.

[sound of gas lawn mower] Actually, I like my life the way it is.

I don't know if I would really want to be a- make money painting.

I don't.

Yeah.

And I, I think to myself I'm going I don't know if anybody could actually afford my work [laughs] All the time Ive spent even if it was minimum wage, I would just like be loosing.

I think he really covet his work I think it was his babies.

I don't know if he was very interested - I mean, he needs money to any job to get by to make his work.

That's understandable.

But he put a lot of effort and time into his work and prices of course, in Charleston are far less when you buy art than they are in other markets, because people didn't have the funds I mean, anything over $2,000 was very expensive for West Virginia collectors.

Except for what I can count on my hand that could afford to buy works above that level.

So he didn't want to really short-sell his work.

Well, you know, I think artists are basically private and for me, myself, I wouldn't call myself different I'm also I'm also an artist.

I also can sell art.

And I also am a big advocate for the arts.

which a lot of artists, you know if you take those three together they're not.

They're either artists, or this, or they're that, but theres not a combination of them.

And it's very unusual, not to say that I'm unusual, but it's just that I grew up in a family of ten.

I'm one of ten.

So you had to do for yourself and you had whatever you wanted you had to do for yourself.

So I multitasked my whole life, So thats, fortunately for me I can still do that.

No, I don't think he wants get rid of it and I worry about it ‘cause a lot of it is not stored correctly.

And I worry about the hot temperatures and the cold temperatures where it is.

And - But no, I think he'd be satified if he never sold another piece.

[magical music] [Nora] One thing that I can see now more in myself and with what I want to do, but I could always see it with you is that we kind of want to show what is our world in our head look like?

And for you, I think you use a lot of water in your world Yeah, there's a lot of water and levels of water.

And I don't know, is there you know, is that what is that?

You know, why water?

It's sort of like um it's like a water level that is coming up and it's sort of exhuasting kind of like a smothering.

[piano waltz music] There's another painting where hes got the trailer, he's holding the trailer, and hes - coming up out of the water.

He's not pushing the trailer down.

He's bringing it up.

I think that he's getting over whatever disappointment or tragedy that he had at the time And he's coming back.

That's the way I look at it.

I love the transparency, the underwater, above water, the difference - And what happens underwater verses what happens in space.

I think what he does is paints what he really wants it to be.

I feel certain of that.

Yeah.

If I could only... and if we could only have water here.

and these fish floating around!

He was given a lot of free rein and create an installation in a beautiful, dark room.

And he could paint the walls.

He had a limited time to do it.

But he you know, he had the trailer constructed.

He the the components of the trailer And I think he had painted the vine on the trailer.

He'd probably done all that.

But then he had to paint this atmosphere.

and I'm sure there had to be a waterline because that room was full of these great floating plexiglass kind a rings or bubbles.

I believe he was working in his trailer Did he make a...?

I think he made a like a model of himself working in the window of the trailer.

[Ellie] and David would come and sit in the trailer [laughs] at a certain time, you know, I think only on the weekends.

I can't remember how often, or when they had a school tour and he would come and sit in the trailer and work.

So you could see.

And the trailer was kind of - you know, it was kind of fun.

He did a great installation at the Clay Center, also.

It included another trailer and a variety of different thing Yeah, there's a little like the a runner trains for a marathon.

It is intense and it is working every single day and moment you can.

And for David, he's a quiet person but it was nerve racking for him And I could see that, you know, he wasn't ever quite sure how it was all going to come together.

And I think that really - and then they did this great big vinyl of his face and put it on the front of the Clay Center So it really - I think he really realized that it was a real thing and it was a big deal.

And it was a big deal.

It was really nice for Nora.

I think that was real formative because she saw her dad being this.

I mean, she always knew he was a but he was an important artist.

It was exciting because like, I got to be there and I just remember kind of dancing around the gallery that night and seeing all of my my best friends but they were really just all these other great artists that we just were very close with.

And and, you know, that was a great night.

And I really saw, you know, how much my Dad's work meant to people, too, at a very young age.

Nora and David and I because we lived kitty corner from the exhibit, went over there a number of times when no one else was in the exhibit.

You know, it's really fun.

It's like, oh, this is our playground You know, we are kitty corner from this beautiful museum.

I think he really he really felt it was important, too.

and I think he was really worried about it until it actually happened.

Like most artists who have to fill a really large space.

Yeah I've known people that have tried to do what he does, but they've never really succeeded Particularly with the dioramas that he does.

But it's his workshop and it's every little tool, every little teeny tool, he made And, you know, his bench, his workbench His this and that and the other thing He has a TV up on the shelf and Oprah is on the TV and [laughs] and it goes on and on and on.

And it's just amazing.

Just amazing.

Oh, I think he's very intuitive.

I think he does not always know what the next thing is and a lot of stuff happened emotionally for him.

We split up.

His mom passed away, you know, and as things work their way out, you know, it's nice because you can transcend these things that are problems and that are hardships.

And I think he's really done that.

He said, you know, I think I did okay with Harvey's Creek, but I need to build another house because I know so much more.

[Nora] So my dad says he wants to build a house and it's like, okay.

so we're going to build a house and it's going to be recycled.

And he has all these ideas.

I think he probably started the house when Nora was about eight, So he worked on it really until she was I would say, until she was almost twenty.

So that was 12 years.

I think I was intrigued and fascinated by the process of it, And I also always loved being in nature and working around nature Usually I spent every other weekend with my dad, so though on those weekends I'd usually help him and yeah, I like I just remember learning so much from that, you know, and, and taking it all and we finally, like, cleared the path up to the house We had to make this a road because it's like, you know, it's the side of a mountain.

So when water would come down we had to figure out a way to to drain it properly.

And so I had to rake the ditches And that was like that was always a hard job, but we were working together, so it was okay.

And that was like my first memory of really working with my dad and kind of some manual labor as well.

And Nora, he had a big hand in helping me, She was a big hand, her mom as well.

[Nora] We also had excavators and I remember just getting the driver's seat and being able to pretend for a minute that I was really working it.

But, you know, thinking at a very young age, I can pound a nail and I can - I kind of know the first to building a house, which is really cool, and especially a very remote house.

I wasn't on any schedule, any tight schedule to get something done.

And yeah, Nora was growing up.

It was a good thing to do for us So - started doing some drawings trying to get - figure out what I wanted and I finally got a drawing that I liked.

A lot of the materials are cannibalized from other houses.

What I say is, this the only way I know how to do it.

You know, I mean?

The new house he built for very, very little money.

And it's almost all built from reused things that people have given him.

But it all works together, right It's easier.

It's cheaper.

It's there for the taking.

[laughs] I had this lady who - she wanted me to tear down this house and a lot of the doors came out of that house.

And some of the old poplar - its old poplar It's really nice stuff, and probably some of the doors are 100 years old.

I met this contractor.

He came out.

He wanted to do some hunting.

So he told me he had all this material that he was going to just get rid of it.

So he brought me the doors.

He brought me the fans.

These windows are actually doors.

I like the cathedral ceiling and it's passive solar.

So I wanted a lot of focus here a lot of glass so that with the wood stove it does work - passive solar.

And he would take her out there and she would she would help and she would sign - as the house progressed, she would sign the beams or the wood or whatever before it was covered up.

I framed the windows to a certain place and then I found windows to fit in the hole.

and then filled in around with stained glass.

I like the look of the floor, too.

It's like bringing outside inside.

Use materials from the property to incorporate it.

in the whole thing, the whole design.

Then Nora went to college when she was just about 19, so it was almost exactly at the same time.

Yeah, actually, when I think about that when Nora went away, which was shocking to both of us, I think David started painting the house just magically was sort of finished, and again finished is relative because we go out, there's something new to see.

Some of these pieces like these pieces, they're Molly's samples, Molly's color samples.

Tests for colors.

This is turtle shell and yeah, an old switch, but it's just what works out [laughs] [Nakashima] Does that old switch do anything?

No [David laughs] You can see if the light turns on [switch clicks] It would be nice if it did do something [laughs] [sound of door opening] And I think he built the house for Nora She had a lot to say in the house.

Whatever, it's hers anyway.

You know, I think she'll turn out to be a very successful young woman.

And I think she will keep it no matter where she is, just because it's a shrine.

I'm really looking at Europe as a place I'm hopefully going to live someday, But, you know, I always say it.

I'll always have a home in West Virginia, and that place will probably be closest to my home that I'll always have here.

[upbeat plucked strings music] [David] I come up here and I'm looking for stuff to do and it's pretty much done.

[Molly] As soon as he finished and it was the next second he started making paintings.

It was the most admirable thing I've seen an artist do.

I mean, he was done one day and he was making paintings the next Its aways been wierd, ‘cause I at the trailer And Ive painted at Harveys Creek and now I haven't transitioned to painting up here, but I think eventually I will.

We were up at the house having a picnic and the first thing that happened was a tree nearly fell on me.

And so that really - he was really spooked by that.

It was a terrible storm.

So we decided to come down the hill and there were three baby raccoons sitting right in the road and they were friendly, slash, snarly enough that you could pick them up with gloves we had to move them out of the road But they were coming after us.

They were looking for their mom.

Obviously, it was Mother's Day, and that's his newest painting.

I mean, he's making this work about the surprises that happen, and he's really interested in that too.

Just what you do, what you get to see, what you can experience when youre quiet.

Maybe that's why he's quiet.

[David] These are raccoons, but I haven't got the face on them yet.

They're just heads right now.

Yeah, this is a - this is the small one.

This is what I'm aiming for.

This is a - and the reason I lined them up in a line is because they would never be in a line [laughs] You know what I mean?

And they would never be like this.

They were everywhere.

I couldn't - you couldn't - So then Molly got out of the truck and they started after her ankles.

[hypnotic vibe music] So, but I'm slowly starting to work on my art and trying to be an artist again [Molly] It's really interesting.

As soon as he gets started on a piece, he talks about, “it's so much fun.

” “I'm having such a good time.

” You know, “this is the part I love.

” and “I'm not sure when to stop.

” “And I love to make marks.

” And he, you know, I think a much happier genre of work, He's doing a lot of portraits of people he loves.

He's not afraid to do a portrait of someone he loves.

The portraits.

They don't, exactly, they don't much of a a meaning except for me, and maybe Nora, and Molly, and Harold, I did Harold's portrait.

He just finished a portrait of me, I think it's the first portrait hes done of anybody that wasn't a family member.

So I'm kind of proud that.

[sniffs] [sweet guitar and piano music] This is a portrait of my sister, Marsha.

Other portraits I've tried to use a little dimension, a little carving and stuff.

But this is more so.

and especially the eyes.

The eyeballs, the center, are marbles.

I can see the person more or as it seems like to me.

See this is the back of it.

To get the look or to get where where I see the portrait and I think “that's him ” or “that's her.

” It's a challenge.

And this what I'm sort of getting into now is, is ah, different and it's sort of - maybe a little more complex because it's different, like using materials differently.

[Nakashima] Do you have a goal or... ?

[loud sighing sound] I don't know I ah [under breath] goal I dont know.

Yeah, I've sort of reached it.

[laughs] You know, it's just like - [Nakashima] Not many people can say that.

Oh, oh, Its the power [Sound person] Wow!

[David] Its a tricky thing.

Doing art is just a thing you have to do.

And you probably, I mean, you guys probably feel the same way.

What else would you want to do?

[Nakashima] Nothin!

[David laughs] [laugh] I have talked so much I have talked more today than I have all month - [Harold] in the 50 years I've known you!

This is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting