I introduced a fantastic artist to a dealer in the mid ‘90s. He had worked in a corporation for many years and had painted as a hobby. Due to an illness he had to quit work and was painting, still as a hobby. The dealer passed him over. He was not marketable due to his high status. I have no idea what became of him but his work was astounding.

The descriptions of folk art are forever changing depending on what side of the bed dealers wake up on, what a magazine writes, or the direction the wind blows (much like any art, really). True folk art was once created by people who piddled away in their backyards or homes for the sake of doing so (I suppose that is why dealers still comb the backwoods). But in this media-driven age the true artist is being cast out by the ever shifting ideas and ideals of dealers. They want something they can tie up in a neat package. And more and more people who would have never thought of painting are throwing out art, assembly style.

I do want to say that we still have a few ethical dealers left in this rag-tag business. They care about the art and the artists. One person, Linda Anderson (a famous folk artist ), discovered Aurence in 1994, and helped to promote his work. She is a dream.

So with that here are some formal definitions of what folk art is:

1: Art created by artists who have little or no formal art education. Folk artists may work within established traditions or innovate their own distinct art forms. Folk artists often demonstrate great ingenuity and creativity in overcoming technical limitations.

2: Traditional representations, usually bound by conventions in both form and content, of a folkloric character and usually made by persons without institutionalized training.

3: Art created by the untutored to express something they have experienced or feel.

4: And my definition: Someone who paints something out of the realm of categorical art that makes an ordinary person stop and take notice. Someone who paints from their soul and in doing so, touches another person’s soul.

Folk art is growing in popularity. People who would never thought about buying folk art in the past snap up Aurence's paintings as fast as he can paint them. There is something powerful about Aurence’s art. One of his collectors has his paintings side-by-side with his most precious fine art collection. They never look out of place.

If you can stick around a bit let me give you some background on both Aurence and myself:

I used to consider folk art a kind of cute, fun thing. I began painting in the early 70s, and having no formal training (I just liked it in high school), painted colorful, happy scenes; people and animals (especially cats). People bought my art because it pleased their eyes and because the colors matched their living room or bedroom decors. I never hung out with artists or dealers until the mid-nineties (and that was an uninvited disaster that took away my art innocence). For most of my life art was my hobby.

Aurence had always helped me in my work painting the backgrounds of furniture that I used as my canvases, making frames, and helping me assemble metal sculptures . During the summer months we enjoyed going to local art shows. I had always begged Aurence to try his hand at painting. He always laughed. In 1993, while at a show, we were approached by a couple of artists who were not what they seemed (we have always had a weakness for the underdog). To make a long story short, we were thrust into the world of dealers and ended up paying for our good deeds.

In 1994, after we had recuperated from our disastrous uninvited adventure, I finally convinced Aurence to pick up a brush. What he painted was extraordinary. It was not the subject but the style. I knew right away he had a special talent. I felt humbled and eventually put down my brush (I only recently started painting again).

I saw a lot of folk art during our short-term dealer/artists’ fiasco , most of it contrived, copied, and ho-hum. Even my paintings could have been done by anyone with time on their hands and a few bucks to buy paints. There was nothing special about my work. The more I saw while out in the “Dog-eat-dog,” art world the more I realized Aurence had something that few folk artists had.

Up until ’93 I never paid much attention to other people’s art. I painted and people bought my art. I never crossed paths with a dealer, attended a formal art show or opening (just small town affairs where they awarded small checks, for Best in Show. Won some of those checks, too!).

In ’93, I was plunged into a world I would have rather not known existed; an art world that decides what is art and who are artists.

I was a child of the '60s, and we liked pretty things! No, I was not a war protestor, only because I saw so many young faces with blank, black eyes staring back at me through a blue-glowing TV. I could never understand why anyone would blame those who had been swept up in a political machine. It was all sad to me. Perhaps that is another reason I liked to create happy paintings.

In recent years, many people have jumped on the folk art bandwagon trying to cash in on the growing interest in this fascinating art. Since Aurence began to paint I have learned a lot. For one thing, I can now tell the difference in something that has been created to make money (and promoted for someone else’s gain) and something that has been created from within. You can't fake feelings in art. I also learned that good artists don't need dealers or art shows to hawk their works. If your art is real collectors will find you; you don't need to stuff the pockets of some already rich middleman who couldn't paint a stick person if his life depended on it.

Aurence's art appeals to people from all walks of life because it speaks to them. His Vietnam paintings are bought not only by military people but housewives, doctors, lawyers, businessmen/women, universities, and corporations. Combat Vietnam veterans, who understand the meaning and importance of art, can read his paintings like a book. His work, though considered folk art, has no real boundaries. So a fine art lover will buy a painting because he/she understands the message. Art is not about pretty pictures (though Aurence does many electrifying non-Vietnam scenes) or impressing your friends or matching the colors in your couch. Art is about soul.

Aurence's art is appealing because it is real. Even people who know nothing about art can see that in his works. Why is his work so real? Linda Anderson summed it up well, “... Aurence paints from the gut, very real and totally honest. I love his works. They just pull me in. There is absolutely nothing contrived about his paintings.”

In a nutshell, we still have some true folk artists out there. When you find one you will know it. Just let your heart be your guide. Don’t look at the eye-candy: cute animals, sprinkles of dots, bold colors, or start matching those colors to your couches; look beyond, into the soul of the artist and you will know right away that the painting you are about to buy will be highly valued for many generations to come.