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Rarely has an artist ever focused as much attention on his home city and home state. No other artist has ever developed such a unique niche in the history of Charleston, the capital city of West Virginia. Few other artists have ever caused us to look so closely into his pictures and at the same time look so closely at our surroundings. That artist is william d. goebel.
And it all happened by “coincidence.”
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When william d. goebel focused his pen on the historic architecture of Charleston, West Virginia he figured he’d do a few drawings here and there, perhaps using a few as gifts. After selling one drawing while a student at West Virginia University, he sold his next drawing at the age of thirty for the amazing price of $25.00. Since then, he has produced and sold hundreds of original drawings and thousands of prints and his style has become immediately recognized by West Virginians living throughout the world.
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A self-taught artist, known to his friends as “the artking”, the former educator still aims to teach through his drawings, his books, and his occasional public appearances. As a supporter of lifelong learning, Goebel feels it imperative not only to learn something new each day, but also to continue to teach, in some way, every day. His favorite subjects are his home city, county and state and he has studied their history both formally and informally since as early as the eighth grade.
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After Goebel picked up a pen and began to draw local subjects for use as note cards, Jack Trail and Victor Weigand, owners of PRO ART, a local art supply store, suggested that he produce a limited edition print from one of his drawings. That was more than twenty years ago and hundreds of titles ago. His work has grown from simple black and white “scribble sketches”, to huge, highly detailed originals, and he has added color to his work. His work is now available in galleries and art and craft fairs throughout the state.
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Goebel credits his success to 20% talent and 80% determination. He struggled at one point in his career to remove what he perceived to be imperfections from his work until a dear friend reminded him that it is the imperfection that gives his work that air of character and uniqueness.
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He has two grown sons and two grandchildren, all of whom live in southern West Virginia. After nearly twenty years on Charleston’s historic East End, Goebel now resides on what he calls Charleston’s upper West Side with his cat, Phoebe. He is currently working on two new books; one a collection of his work, the other a West Virginia based historical novel. He occasionally threatens to publish a book of his poetry, but is currently content to produce a constant flow of new drawings, both large and small.
Goebel graduated in 1973 from Concord College in Athens, West Virginia with a Bachelor’s degree in Education and in 1979 from the West Virginia College of Graduate Studies, with a Master’s, also in Education. He took post-Masters work at Columbia and Long Island Universities. In 1984 he was a Humanities Fellow at Georgetown University as part of a National Endowment for the Humanities project entitled “The Odyssey Institute".