This is a large folk art sculpture of what I’m pretty sure is a turkey vulture. We don’t know the maker, but bought it from a fella in Nashville who picked it up in Georgia. Regardless, it’s a beauty. I love the rough hewn body and the old marble eyes. It weighs a bunch! I had it seat belted in the back seat of our CRV all the way home to Bloomington from Nashville (it startled me more than once!). We found the old box with the blue stripe at an antique mall in southern Illinois. I think they were meant to be together!

We love folk art…some folks say outsider or self-trained or other terms. This drawing is by an anonymous artist and it’s pretty much perfect. It’s another example of a piece I saw and didn’t buy…but got lucky to get another chance to buy it! The note on it is perfect, “Mother drew & colored when a child.” It was precious enough for them to keep it…and we’ll be sure to take good care of it, too. (Note: this is a double-sided drawing, so we had it framed double-sided.)

I love my baseball cards and have been collecting off and on since 1984. Collecting art, supporting artists, and helping make art available to more folks is my true passion and where I hope my wife and I can make a difference in our community. I’ll share more about that over time, but this is a piece by one of our favorite artists, Scott Griffin. It’s painted in encaustic, which is basically colored wax. I believe he was forced to quit making art because one of his media of choice, arc welding, caused respiratory issues. I’m thankful we have this boxing scene and a couple of others I’ll share down the road.