Episode 59 | What Does a Real Folk Art Collector Collect?

Episode 60 | Matt Shows Mike Smith the Rare Folk Art Leaving the Gallery

This episode starts with Mike returning to the table, where Matt has pulled together a group of rare folk art, pottery, baskets, quilts, and objects from the gallery before they ship out to new collections. Some of these pieces may not come back around for decades, so Matt wanted to get them on camera while they were still in the room. The conversation begins with Mike’s 35 years in the folk art world and his early trips through the Southeast visiting artists. From there, Matt and Mike dig into Billy Ray Hussey, including a red-glazed lion Matt calls one of the best pieces of contemporary Southern pottery he has ever seen, along with an early monumental lion from Hussey’s years around M.L. Owens and Jugtown. The table keeps changing as more pieces come out: rare stamped North Carolina copper measures, a Chester Webster salt-glazed jug, a small-bottom dirt dish, Charles Moore pottery, a double-sided Charlie Brown face jug, Benny Carter paintings and miniatures, Appalachian baskets, and an African American quilt found in Guilford County. Along the way, Matt talks about why serious collectors often are not sellers, and why some pieces disappear into private collections for a very long time. Mike also brings a few treasures of his own, including hand-built circus wagons and a major James Harold Jennings piece. The episode closes with Matt showing Mike two alligator walking sticks that appear to be by the same unknown maker, opening up the bigger question of how anonymous folk art discoveries can begin with just one matching piece. This is part auction preview, part collector conversation, and part folk art history lesson with one of the people who has spent decades chasing the artists, objects, and stories that make the field so alive. Chapters 00:00 | $17 a Day and Chocolate Milk at the Bar 03:51 | Mike Smith Returns to the House of Folk Art 04:29 | Mike’s 35 Years in Folk Art 06:39 | Meeting Billy Ray Hussey 07:50 | The Billy Ray Hussey Lion 10:37 | An Early Billy Ray Hussey Lion 12:46 | Rare Pieces Before They Leave the Gallery 14:00 | North Carolina Copper Measures 17:08 | Chester Webster and a Small-Bottom Dirt Dish 19:58 | Charles Moore Pottery 23:11 | A Double-Sided Charlie Brown Face Jug 25:49 | Folk Art, Special Talents, and the Chicken Joke 27:12 | Benny Carter and Little New York 32:09 | Appalachian Baskets and Miniature Baskets 38:40 | A Guilford County African American Quilt 42:04 | Mike Brings Circus Wagons 49:52 | Remembering the Circus Coming to Town 52:08 | James Harold Jennings 57:07 | The Two Alligator Walking Sticks 01:02:22 | How to Display Walking Sticks 01:02:50 | Radcliffe Bailey and Classifying Art 01:05:10 | Final Thoughts with Mike Smith Do you recognize one of these pieces, makers, or stories? Reach out to the show: houseoffolkart@gmail.com (919) 410-8002 Leave your name, where you are from, and any information you have. You might hear yourself on a future episode. Follow @houseoffolkart for more stories, field trips, and upcoming auction dates at LedbetterAuctions.com.

Episode 59 | What Does a Real Folk Art Collector Collect?

Matt and Sully are back at Ledbetter Auction Gallery in Gibsonville with a fresh stack from a 400-piece single-owner folk art collection that just came through the door. The collection had already been unboxed and was waiting to be photographed, but Matt had not fully gone through it yet. So instead of picking their own favorites from around the gallery, Matt and Sully grab a random stack of about 40 pieces and start digging in with fresh eyes. This episode is a look at what a real folk art collector collects: the known names, the lesser-known artists, the pieces that need more research, and the kind of work that only starts to make sense once you slow down and really look at it. The stack starts with a carved Calvin Cooper dog, then moves into work by Po Phil, Levent Isik, Alpha Andrews, Kaye Simmons, Sam Ezell, Bob Newell, Richard Burnside, John Burgess, Myrtice West, Aretha Hardy, Albert Wagner, Purvis Young, Willie White, and more. There are auction estimates, artist stories, a few mystery signatures, and plenty of moments where the guys have to admit they do not know everything yet. That is part of the point. This is what it looks like when a collection arrives, the research starts, and the pieces begin to tell you where they came from. Do you know a folk artist or have a picking story worth sharing? Reach out to the show: Chapters 00:00 | Welcome Back to House of Folk Art with Matt and Sully 02:42 | First Up: The Wood Carved Dalmatian 04:20 | Matt’s First Pick from the Stack 06:00 | Sully Learns About Levent Isik 07:40 | Mixed Media in a Frame 08:26 | Reminiscent of Bernice Sims 09:15 | Matt’s Favorite Piece So Far 10:07 | Sam Ezell Shows Up in the Art Pile 11:25 | Mail Pouch Chew 12:14 | Richard Burnside from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 14:04 | Key West Folk Art 16:26 | An Incredible Memory Painting of Quilt Making 18:04 | Myrtice West, Self-Taught Visionary Artist 20:43 | Gold Framed Folk Art? 22:15 | Animals & Angels 23:25 | Albert Wagner 26:08 | Folk Style, But… 26:55 | An Early Sam Ezell 27:42 | Purvis Young and Goodbread Alley 31:58 | Folk Art Framed in PVC Pipe 32:59 | A Series of Folk Paintings 34:08 | A.B. the Flag Man, Don’t Forget It 40:17 | Folk Art from a Coal Miner 42:59 | The Art of Willie White 46:20 | Alpha Andrews on Mixed Paper 48:19 | James Bland Folk Art Face 49:58 | Back to Myrtice West 51:47 | Grilling Is Pleasing 53:31 | Butch Anthony Face Pan 55:25 | Back to A.B. the Flag Man 57:52 | One More Time with Levent Isik 01:00:57 | A Good Day at the Auction Gallery 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 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.