T-L Photo/ROBERT A. DEFRANK Ed Doughty of Martins Ferry will have his work on display this November at Wheeling. Here, he and wife Helen hold his painting of the Sammis Lock with a barge.

MARTINS FERRY — Local artist Ed Doughty will showcase his work in Wheeling this November at Artworks Around Town gallery and art center at Centre Market, where he brings scenes and figures from the past to life in woodcarvings and oil paintings.

“For the whole month of November he’s going to show his artwork and miniatures,” said his wife, Helen Doughty, noting that a gala is planned for 5:30-8 p.m. Nov. 4 to kick off the show. The public is welcome, free of charge.

“That’ll be the first Friday for the gala, and the showing will be the whole month,” she said. “Anyone can go in and see it, and observe it, and if they want to purchase it.”

Doughty will have 28 paintings and 10 miniatures on display.

The site is open 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday. This will be the first show focusing on Doughty’s work, but his pieces have long been on display there. Helen added that the organization includes close to 30 artistic individuals using medium including photography, oil and acrylic painting and pottery.

“It’s for the public,” she said. “It’s like a club that you join, and they let you have a panel to display your art, but this is a whole room of just Ed’s stuff alone.”

In recent years, Doughty has been recognized by the Steubenville Art Association for his painting of the Sammis Lock with a barge on the Ohio River. He has also been recognized with the Ohio Senate Merit Award. This painting will be on exhibit, along with other pieces including Native American and Norse-style tools and carved and painted birds. His work has also been on display at the Underground Railroad Museum in Flushing and the Monroe Art Center. He has also won the James Kaupman Memorial Award.

Helen noted that his specialties also include carved trains, fire wagons, steam fire engines and horse-drawn pumps. Other miniatures include rocking chairs and spinning wheels in the antique style. His running theme is the past.

“He’s a history buff,” she said.

As a child from a large, poor family growing up during the Great Depression in Martins Ferry, Ed developed a love of art and artistry. He pursued a passion for sketching and painting and was recognized for his abilities for the first time while in the eighth grade when The Times Leader reported on his Christmas murals.

He continued to develop and apply his artistic skills while working as a carpenter and cabinet maker. At that point, he developed a love of woodcarving and of recreating historically significant structures in miniature. His pieces include representations of the Bridgeport-Wheeling Island Covered Bridge and Hilltop Two Room Schoolhouse, the Wheeling Suspension Bridge, the Oglebay Mansion and Monument Place.