Episode 55 | Riding Out to Liberty with Matt Ledbetter

Episode 58 | Matt and Kyle Get Back to Folk Art

Matt and Kyle are back at the Auction Gallery in Gibsonville after a run of antique shows. Liberty and Fishersville were fun, but this episode gets back to the roots of House of Folk Art: self-taught art, pottery, carvings, and the stories behind the pieces. Matt and Kyle pull work from around the gallery and talk through what makes each piece worth slowing down for. The episode starts with Sam Ezell, a North Carolina artist and picker whose work has become a major focus at the auction house, including a large group of pieces coming up in a future sale. From there, the conversation moves into Denzil Goodpaster, a bear carving, and Matt’s ongoing argument about the difference between craft and art. The crew also digs into a Charles Simmons wood carved jug, the connection to Raymond Coins, and why some important North Carolina artists are still only known by a small circle of collectors. Matt talks through why a piece may not bring enough at auction, but can still be exactly the kind of thing he wants to keep. There is also pottery from Marvin Bailey and Ellen Martin, including the story of the first Marvin Bailey piece that really pulled Matt into contemporary face jugs.  The episode closes with a few pieces coming up for auction, including a tramp art box, plus a quick reminder for first-time bidders ahead of the June 11 auction. Bid in the June 11 Folk Art & Americana Auction: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/419094_folk-art-and-americana-auction/ Chapters 00:00 | Back at the Auction House in Gibsonville 03:11 | Sam Ezell, Self-Taught Art, and Large Scale 12:42 | Denzil Goodpaster’s Bear Carving 22:00 | First Look at House of Folk Art Merch 24:10 | Charles Simmons and the Wood Carved Jug 34:34 | Matt’s First Marvin Bailey Piece 47:19 | Ellen Martin’s Lion and North Carolina Pottery 56:44 | A Huge Baseball Carving Hits the Table 01:00:34 | Auction Preview: Tramp Art Box 01:08:00 | A Good Day Back at Ledbetter Auction Gallery Do you know a folk artist or have a picking story worth sharing? Reach out to the show: houseoffolkart@gmail.com (919) 410-8002 Leave your name and where you are from and you might hear yourself on a future episode. Follow @houseoffolkart for more stories, field trips, and upcoming auction dates at LedbetterAuctions.com.

Episode 57 | Van Side at Fishersville Antique Expo

Fishersville was a great show this year. Friday was packed from the start, dealers were moving material early, and by Saturday morning Matt was already back at the van digging through the pile of things that he’s taking back home. Matt pulls out a few of the buys from Fishersville and talks through them while the show is still happening around him: carved walking sticks, tramp art, Clyde Herman carvings, a dancing figure, a whirligig that nearly flies apart in the wind, and one folk art cane that immediately turns into a full blown appraisal session. There is also an ongoing challenge throughout the episode to find somebody at Fishersville who actually knows who Benny Carter is. Matt signs a copy of the Benny Carter book in the van and walks the show trying to give it away to the right person. This is only part of the Fishersville trip. We still have more videos coming from the field, including a full day of buying around the show with Amanda’s Mercantile. After Fishersville, everything heads back to the auction house alongside the Liberty finds. The plan now is to unload it all, photograph everything, and start getting pieces ready for upcoming auctions at Ledbetter Folk Art Auctions. Chapters 00:00 | Back at Fishersville Antique Expo 00:20 | Friday Was a Madhouse 00:55 | Signing the Benny Carter Book 02:04 | The Nude Grandma Whirligig 03:01 | Clyde Herman Carvings and Walking Sticks 04:09 | The Five Dollar Owl 05:00 | The Best Cane at Fishersville 08:05 | Learning to Buy Tramp Art 11:02 | Non Buyer’s Remorse 13:21 | Breaking Down the Dancing Figure 16:05 | Looking for Someone Who Knows Benny Carter 17:37 | The Folk Art Reading Lamp 17:49 | Walking the Show with the Whirligig 18:56 | Does nobody Know Benny Carter?? 23:27 | Giving the Book Away and Signing Off Do you know a folk artist or have a picking story worth sharing? Reach out to the show: houseoffolkart@gmail.com [houseoffolkart@gmail.com] (919) 410-8002 [tel:(919)%20410-8002] Leave your name and where you are from and you might hear yourself on a future episode. Follow @houseoffolkart for more stories, field trips, and upcoming auction dates at LedbetterAuctions.com [http://LedbetterAuctions.com].

Episode 56 | Liberty Buys, Fishersville Plans, and One Last Look at Benny Carter

Matt returns to the auction gallery after Liberty with the buys still sitting behind him and another show already on the calendar. This time, the conversation picks up in that brief window between antique shows, when the dust from one trip has barely settled and the next one is already starting to take shape. Liberty had the feeling of a final chapter, but not necessarily a dead end. After months of questions about what the last Liberty show would mean, Matt came away with a different impression. Dealers were still buying, still selling, and many were already talking about setting up again when the show moves into its next form. For Matt, the proof of the show was sitting right there in the room. He bought steadily, stayed late, and even kept working the field during pack up, coming home with pottery, baskets, canes, quilts, and a late day monkey jug that sends him into a full dealer’s breakdown. From there, the episode turns north toward Fishersville, Virginia. The Fishersville Antiques Expo sits in the Shenandoah Valley, and Matt talks through why that region changes the kind of material you expect to see. Virginia brings a different layer of age and history into the hunt, with early period furniture, painted blanket chests, blue decorated stoneware, baskets, folk art canes, and other forms that can reach back deeper than the material usually found at Southern shows. For Matt, Fishersville is not just another stop after Liberty. It is a different buying environment, with a different pace, a different geography, and the possibility of finding pieces that can still make the whole trip worth it. The episode also opens up the practical side of the antiques business. Matt talks about buying with the auction in mind, teaching his son how money moves through the trade, and why collecting and dealing are not always the same thing. Some pieces stay in the collection. Some pieces go straight back into the market. Others become part of the education that happens along the way. By the end of the Fishersville run, the plan is to bring everything back to Ledbetter Auctions, photograph it, list it, and let viewers see what the Liberty and Fishersville buys actually do once they hit the auction block. The final section shifts from the road back into the gallery, where Matt walks through the Benny Carter display arranged for a North Carolina Folk Art Society exhibit and book event. The room is filled with Carter’s birdhouses, New York City paintings, clocks, Noah’s Ark scenes, poem paintings, cutouts, and one remarkable Annie Moon doll made to look like Benny himself. Matt traces Carter’s development from early birdhouses to dense city scenes, from unfinished late paintings to self-made clocks, showing how one artist returned again and again to the same subjects while constantly reworking them. By the end, the episode becomes more than a recap. It is a look at the cycle that keeps this world moving: the show field, the auction house, the collector’s eye, the dealer’s risk, and the folk art that gives the whole thing a reason to keep going. Chapters 00:00 | Back at the Auction Gallery Between Antique Shows 04:01 | Previewing the Next Trip to Fishersville 10:38 | Reflecting on the Last Day at Liberty 14:19 | At 14, You Can Work at Subway or Be an Antique Dealer 17:39 | Expectations for Fishersville 25:49 | Who Was Benny Carter? 28:55 | Walking Through the Benny Carter Exhibit 37:27 | Benny Carter’s Origin Poem 42:03 | Wrapping Up Before Fishersville Do you know a folk artist or have a picking story worth sharing? Reach out to the show: houseoffolkart@gmail.com (919) 410-8002 Leave your name and where you are from and you might hear yourself on a future episode. Follow @houseoffolkart for more stories, field trips, and upcoming auction dates at LedbetterAuctions.com.

Episode 55 | Riding Out to Liberty with Matt Ledbetter

Matt Ledbetter sits down before heading out to Liberty, North Carolina to set up Wade's tent for the last Liberty Antique show. Held twice a year in Randolph County, the Liberty Antiques Festival has long been one of the best known antique shows in the region. Dealers from more than 25 states set up across a large farm setting, with everything from pottery, furniture, and quilts to decoys, folk art, glass, and country Americana. The show has built its reputation around original antiques and collectibles rather than crafts or reproductions. For Matt and his family, Liberty has been a major part of life for years. In this episode, he looks back on some of the pieces he found there over the past decade, tells the stories behind them, and talks through why Liberty has meant so much to him as a dealer, picker, and collector. As setup day approaches, the conversation becomes a mix of memories, strategy, and anticipation for what might still turn up. Matt starts with one of his most memorable pottery finds, a Chester Webster school jug he spotted at a yard sale just outside the show grounds. From there, he moves through a group of past Liberty finds including a carved walking stick, a painted stand, a painted basket, Benny Carter paintings, and a Ward Brothers decoy, using each one to explain what caught his eye and why some things stay in the collection while others go back into the market. If you are interested in antiques, folk art, Southern pottery, or just want to hear how a longtime picker thinks before a big show, this episode gives a clear look at what Liberty means to the people who have spent years setting up, buying, and coming back every season. Chapters 00:00 | Van Side Before the Final Liberty Antiques Festival 02:53 | The Webster School Jug Story 09:45 | A Walking Stick from Liberty 11:39 | The Painted Stand and Basket 15:39 | Benny Carter Paintings and Liberty Memories 20:44 | A Ward Brothers Decoy and Learning New Categories 26:31 | Should We Buy Every Decoy Tomorrow? 30:53 | What Matt Hopes to Find at Liberty 42:14 | Looking Ahead to Fishersville 44:36 | Packing Up and Heading to Liberty 45:25 | Picking Up Ethan and Driving to Set Up 46:38 | Arriving at Liberty and Finding the Webster Jug Yard Sale 47:50 | Wrapping the Day Before the Show Do you know a folk artist or have a picking story worth sharing? Reach out to the show: houseoffolkart@gmail.com (919) 410-8002 Leave your name and where you are from and you might hear yourself on a future episode. Follow @houseoffolkart for more stories, field trips, and upcoming auction dates at LedbetterAuctions.com. Next week, we’ll release the full Liberty walkthrough, showing the setup, the hunt, and what turns up once the show gets going.

Episode 54 | What Matt Bought at the Catawba Valley Pottery Festival

Matt Ledbetter and Kyle sit down with a table full of pieces from the Catawba Valley Pottery Festival and break down what they picked up over the weekend. Held once a year in Hickory, North Carolina, the Catawba Valley Pottery Festival brings together over a hundred working potters alongside a small group of dealers specializing in historic Catawba Valley pottery. It is one of the few places where you can walk booth to booth, meet the artists directly, and see both contemporary work and pieces rooted in a tradition that goes back generations. Matt talks through how the weekend actually plays out. The Friday night preview, the rush when doors open, and how fast things move when collectors are lined up for specific makers.  From there, they bring a group of pieces to the table and walk through what they picked up. Face jugs, monkey jugs, and functional forms all come into the conversation, along with what to look for in Catawba Valley pottery. Alkaline glaze, form, and firing methods all start to separate stronger pieces from the rest. If you are interested in Southern pottery, collecting, or just want to understand why people travel for this show every year, this episode gives a clear look at what makes the Catawba Valley Pottery Festival stand out. Chapters 00:00 | Recapping the Catawba Valley Pottery Festival 00:06:33 | What They Look for in Catawba Valley Pottery 00:10:48 | Why This Is an Important Pottery Show 00:12:36 | First Look at Matt’s Stacey Lambert Pieces 00:15:32 | The Steve Abee Monkey Jug 00:19:23 | Meeting Marvin Bailey 00:24:17 | Supporting Living Potters 00:31:00 | What Makes a Piece Worth Buying 00:36:30 | Final Thoughts on the Festival Do you know a folk artist or have a picking story worth sharing? Reach out to the show: houseoffolkart@gmail.com (919) 410-8002 Leave your name and where you are from and you might hear yourself on a future episode. Follow @houseoffolkart for more stories, field trips, and upcoming auction dates at LedbetterAuctions.com. Next week, we’ll release the full walkthrough from the floor, showing how these pieces were found and bought in real time.