The Kohler Foundation funded the restoration of Prophet Isaiah Robertson’s distressed site. B. R. Howard Conservation removed all the rocks, stones and wood structures from the site. In the spring through early fall ’23, they re-installed PVC replicas of all the wood structures. All the original stones were re-painted and returned to their original locations. […]
One of the most famous American self-taught artists and art environments, Leonard Knight and Salvation Mountain appeared in documentaries and commercial movies such as Into the Wild (2007) and Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea (2004).
Since age ten, James Phillips had collected over 16,000 antlers. When he wasn’t hunting antlers in the spring and fall, he took daily trail walks and has authored three books of his observations. Jim is proud to have not purchased any, or killed any animal while amassing his antler collection. He found and manually carried-out […]
Bernard Gore is a partially disabled Purple Heart decorated Vietnam veteran self-taught artist living near Atlanta, Georgia. He works daily on paintings, assemblage sculptures, and carved wood relief sculptures. Formerly a part time preacher, his often brightly patterned subjects are both biblical and secular: ranging from a festive lynch mob to Elton John’s Rocket Man […]
Leroy Gonzales, the self-appointed mayor of Golden, New Mexico gives free tours of his outdoor museum to the local history of gold-mining. His roadside attraction near the southern end of Rt 14 (the Turquoise Trail) not far from Albuquerque, includes a mine shaft, a wall of pre-decent miner’s possessions, a cantina, John Wayne’s girlfriend, plus […]
Drawings and underground comics by James Beoddy dating from approximately the early 1970’s to 2015. All artworks ©James Beoddy estate.
Paintings by James Beoddy dating from approximately the early 1970’s to the early 2000’s. All paintings ©James Beoddy estate.
James Beoddy recalled that he began to draw when he was about four or five years old, and despite having attended college for a couple of years, he was primarily a self-taught artist. Beginning in 2000, he taught himself to paint in anaglyphic and ChromaDepth® 3-D. A longtime passionate advocate for freedom of expression, Beoddy’s […]
Inspired by visions that “God sends to me,” Brenda Davis filled the walls and ceilings of her double-wide mobile home in rural Alabama with painted depictions of boldly abstracted flowers and birds, multi-colored fronds, primeval jungle royalty, calligraphic-like seals, insects, and painterly swirls. Purchased in 2008, it became Brenda’s fantastical refuge from a troubled life […]
Tammy Lange is currently building an art environment in her new location outside of Aztec, New Mexico, and several new works have appeared since my fist visit in the summer of 2021. Tammy requested that the location of her site not be made public. Tammy works with various found materials, including skulls, antlers, and twisted […]
Frank Novel has saved many of his mother’s sketchbooks. Now deceased, Anna Novel was also a mental health patient, and her work helped inspire Frank to take up drawing. These work date from later in her life.
1962 Corvair 95 Greenbrier van
Roy Smith lives in Royville without electricity or plumbing. During the day he charges solar lights for nighttime use inside the van where he sleeps. In the 1990’s Roy was featured on the television news program 20/20, and he won a racial bias law suite against the police department (in a different Colorado county). […]
Floyd “Junior” Banks (A.K.A. “Castleman’s”) full scale castle walls– made almost entirely by Floyd working alone from salvaged materials– have been under continuous construction since 1993. Behind the two castle walls, most rooms are open to the sky, and none are habitable. Complete with a torture chamber and fireplace, Floyd believes that images representing Divine […]
Jimmy Morrow’s folk art paintings in his Edwina Church of God in Jesus Christ’s Name reinforce the messages in his charismatic sermons, during which he sometime handles snakes. Jimmy has written a book on the history of serpent handling (see link below). His further interests in history include especially the Civil War, and his Great, […]
Jimmy Morrow’s folk art paintings in his Edwina Church of God in Jesus Christ’s Name reinforce the messages in his charismatic sermons, during which he sometime handles snakes. Jimmy has written a book on the history of serpent handling (see link below). His further interests in history include especially the Civil War, and his Great, […]
In 1998 Phil Brinkley began to weld dinosaurs, dragons, knights, and other fanciful creations out of automobile and farm implement parts. He also works with commercial sheet metal as well as construction tube and bar stock. He is retired after 40 years with the Cessna Aircraft Company, and helps his son with his auto body […]
Henry Hall made numerous Mardi Gras costumes, model floats, and found-object sculptures. He also drew, made spray paintings from custom stencils, and decorated his yard with beads, party hats, and objects from around his neighborhood. He proudly recalled his U. S. Army service (1953-5), having a traveling dance troupe and running a dance studio in […]
A retired contractor, Mr. Long recalls beginning in the sheet-metal business at 22, becoming a welder and later a general contractor for steel buildings and the construction and remodeling of houses. He worked for the Halliburton Corporation for about 2 1/2 years. He’s owned his house since around 1980, and once had a welding shop […]
As a young boy in the 1950’s, Bill Brady’s severe dyslexia was little understood. At home, he learned metalworking alongside his father, an accomplished blacksmith, but after the ninth grade, Bill was counseled to give up schooling, and he dropped-out to take a series of menial jobs. While living in New England, he would supplement […]