Join Matt Ledbetter, esteemed auctioneer and folk art connoisseur hailing from Gibsonville, North Carolina, as he unveils the rich tapestry of Southern Folk Art. With personal ties to numerous folk artists through his renowned quarterly auctions, Matt brings you on a journey through the intricate history, the profound motivations, and the intimate encounters that shape the world of folk art.
Matt and Sully are back with a mystery collection from Columbus, Ohio. This episode starts with a simple question: is Collage Folk Art? In front of them is a group of 147 handmade collages, all believed to be from the same unknown artist. The pieces came out of a Columbus estate, with no artist name, very little history, and just enough clues to make Matt think something important may be hiding in plain sight. Before digging into the work, Sully gives a quick setup on collage as an art form, from early modern artists like Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso to the bigger question of whether collage can belong in the world of folk and self-taught art. From there, Matt walks through what he knows about the collection: how it was bought, why the group feels different, and why he has started calling the unknown maker the Columbus Collage Man. As the stack unfolds, the mystery only gets bigger. Were these made by a self-taught artist working privately for decades? Could they have come from a clinical or institutional setting? Were they made by the Columbus Collage Man, the Columbus Collage Woman, or someone else entirely? Nobody knows yet, but Matt makes the case that the work deserves to be researched, preserved, and taken seriously. This is part auction preview, part folk art debate, and part real-time discovery. Whether the collages sell for a few dollars each or become something much bigger later, the episode captures the moment when a strange box of art arrives, the questions start piling up, and the collection begins to speak for itself. Chapters 00:00 | Is Collage Folk Art? 01:21 | A 147-Piece Mystery Collection from Columbus 02:18 | Matt Thinks These Collages Are Something Special 04:11 | Romare Bearden Meets Bill Traylor 04:47 | Could These Have Come from an Institution? 06:41 | The Columbus Collage Man 07:26 | Looking Through the First Collages 09:53 | Should the Collection Stay Together? 13:07 | The Mystery Gets Stranger 15:10 | Romare Bearden and the Bigger Collage Question 17:04 | Layered Wood, String, and Shape 21:47 | A Handwritten 1937 Date 22:21 | “This Is Outsider Art” 25:36 | Should a Professional Analyze These? 28:00 | Final Thoughts on the Columbus Collage Man Do you know anything about this collection, the Columbus Collage Man, or early collage work from Columbus, Ohio? 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 (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 .
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.
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.
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.
In this episode of House of Folk Art, Matt Ledbetter and Kyle walk through the newly expanded Ledbetter warehouse and put it to use right away. With over 15,000 square feet of material to dig through, they each pick out five pieces and bring them back to the table to break down what they are seeing, what stands out, and why certain objects hold more weight than others. The episode starts inside the warehouse, moving through shelves, stacks, and walls of material as they search for pieces that feel like real folk art. There is no category restriction. Carvings, metalwork, furniture, and overlooked objects are all on the table. What matters is instinct. What catches your eye, what holds up when you look closer, and what actually feels like it came from the hand of the maker. Once the picks are laid out, the conversation shifts into how collectors think. Matt and Kyle get into the difference between craft and folk art, how repetition and time factor into that line, and why certain pieces that might get passed over at first glance start to reveal something deeper. A small chair made from cut Coca Cola cans turns into a longer discussion about unknown makers, production, and how entire bodies of work can exist just under the surface without much documentation. Throughout the episode, the focus stays on the objects themselves. How they were made, where they might have come from, and how you start to recognize patterns across collections. There is also a look at how pieces from the same maker can surface over time, and how one labeled example can help connect a much larger group of work. In the back half, the episode opens up beyond the table with additional pieces and context pulled from the warehouse, including a few surprises that extend the conversation beyond the original ten picks. There is also rare footage of Carl Otto Long worked into the episode, adding another layer to the discussion around makers, documentation, and how these artists are remembered. If you are interested in how collectors actually look at objects, how taste develops over time, and what it feels like to sort through a warehouse full of material, this episode gives a clear look at that process. Chapters 00:00 | Inside the New 15,000 Sq Ft Warehouse 00:01:45 | First Pick: The Coke Can Chair 00:07:30 | The Maker, Repetition, and the Collection 00:12:30 | When Craft Becomes Folk Art 00:15:42 | The Carl Otto Story 00:20:00 | Looking at the Next Picks 00:28:00 | What Makes Something Stand Out 00:36:00 | When Pieces Start Connecting 00:44:36 | One Object Doesn’t Make Sense Alone 00:52:00 | Expanding the Collection 00:59:45 | Final Pieces and Closing Thoughts 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.
In this episode of House of Folk Art, Matt Ledbetter sits down with longtime friend and antique dealer Laura Saville for a full conversation on antique American quilts, how to look at them, how to date them, and why more collectors are starting to take them seriously as both historical objects and pieces of art. Laura talks about falling headfirst into quilts over the last several months, studying fabrics, construction, and textile history, and learning how quilts connect to antique clothing, regional taste, and daily life in America. Matt brings in the picking side of it too, explaining how common quilts once were in Southern households, how they were stored, and why dealers used to bring stacks of them back from house calls and auctions. Together, Matt and Laura get into the practical side of collecting. They talk about mothball smell and why it does not always mean a textile is ruined, how long quilts actually take to make, the difference between quilts and coverlets, early whole cloth examples, hand stitching versus machine stitching, crazy quilts, Victorian era patterns, Gee’s Bend, what makes one quilt worth sixty dollars and another worth thousands, and how personal taste shapes what collectors chase. In the back half of the episode, the conversation opens up into a warehouse walkthrough as Matt and Laura start pulling and discussing many different quilts in person. They look at fabric, stitching, pattern names, dating clues, collector categories, African American quilt interest, Double Wedding Ring quilts, and the kind of instinct that starts to develop when you’ve handled enough material. The episode ends with practical advice on how to choose a quilt when you are standing at a show and trying to decide what is actually worth buying. If you are curious about quilts as folk art, textile history, or the real world of buying antique quilts, this is one of the most useful episodes House of Folk Art has done on the subject. Chapters 00:00 | Laura’s Deep Dive Into Quilts 01:15 | Dating Quilts Through Clothing and Fabric 02:13 | How Many Quilts Were in a Household 03:00 | Trunks, Attics, and How Quilts Survived 05:30 | Mothballs and Getting the Smell Out 05:47 | How Long Does It Take to Make a Quilt 06:33 | Were Quilts in Early America 08:30 | Coverlets, Whole Cloth Quilts, and Early Textiles 11:05 | Hand Stitching vs Machine Stitching 12:40 | What Makes a Good Country Quilt 13:30 | Crazy Quilts and the Victorian Era 15:00 | Quilts Inside Quilts and Picking Stories 16:40 | Where All Those Quilts Ended Up 17:00 | Quilt Racks and How They Were Used 17:55 | Gee’s Bend and Quilts Entering the Art World 20:40 | Why Quilts Read Like Art at Auction 22:30 | What Makes One Quilt Worth More Than Another 24:20 | Colonial Revival Quilts and 1930s Patterns 25:30 | New York Beauty and Reading Old Fabric 26:30 | Utilitarian Quilts vs Decorative Quilts 27:30 | Learning Quilts as an Independent Researcher 28:00 | What Should You Buy at an Antique Show 38:00 | Moving Into the Warehouse Walkthrough 52:00 | Looking at Quilts in Person 1:05:00 | African American Quilt Collector Interest 1:10:00 | Double Wedding Ring and Pattern Recognition 1:20:49 | Deep Dive Into Collector Categories 1:27:28 | Final Buying Advice for Quilt Collectors Laura Saville is based in North Carolina and maintains a full time booth at The Antique Marketplace in Greensboro: 6428 Burnt Poplar Rd Greensboro, NC 27409 Laura’s main booth is the first booth to the left behind the counter. Laura also regularly sets up at regional antiques shows, including: Tarheel Antiques Festival April 10–11, 2026 226 North Lloyd’s Dairy Rd Efland, NC 27243 Liberty Antique Festival April 24–25, 2026 2855 Pike Farm Rd Staley, NC 27355 Laura’s booth: M5 Fishersville Antiques Expo May 8–9, 2026 227 Expo Rd Fishersville, VA 22939 Inside the first building 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, adventures, and upcoming auction dates at LedbetterAuctions.com.
In January of 1994, Mary Proctor lost her grandmother, her uncle, and her aunt in a mobile home fire. The grandmother who raised her, the woman she called mama, was gone. The grief was overwhelming. For thirty days, Mary spent half of every day praying, sitting with her Bible, questioning God and asking why. On the final day, she says a light brighter than the sun appeared, and a voice spoke from within it. She was told to paint on an old door, and that the words would be given to her. In that moment, grief turned into direction. What began as prayer became purpose. Painting became her calling. From that first door forward, Mary’s work carried a message. Scripture, testimony, warnings, hope. Not just decoration, but instruction. Her art became a spiritual language, a way to awaken the soul, to remind people how to live, how to forgive, how to prepare, how to believe. She did not simply start painting. She stepped into a mission and became Missionary Mary. That moment marked the beginning of her life as an artist. In this episode of House of Folk Art, Matt Ledbetter travels to Florida to sit down with Mary Proctor, also known as Missionary Mary, to talk about the calling behind her work. They discuss her childhood, the meaning of her name, the influence of her grandmother, and how faith and memory became painted onto salvaged doors and found materials. Mary walks through specific works in her yard, including pieces that reference her baptism, scripture, and family history. The conversation moves between humor and testimony, art and belief, ending with the story of how loss became purpose and paint became ministry. CHAPTERS 00:00 | We’re at Mary Proctor’s and We’re Not Leaving 02:02 | Who Is Mary Proctor and Why She Paints 06:33 | Taking Mary’s Work to Auction 09:36 | Paint or Die 12:01 | The Famous Painted Doors and Amazing Grace 14:27 | Bird Man, Bird Omen, and Trusting God 18:52 | Why Mary Doesn’t Paint Snakes 22:13 | Let Grace Grow 37:54 | God Loves Folk Art 47:48 | Turning Pain Into Purpose 01:02:09 | The Vision of Light and the First Painted Door Do you know a folk artist or have a picking story worth sharing? Leave your name and where you are from and you might hear yourself on a future episode. houseoffolkart@gmail.com (919) 410 8002 Follow @houseoffolkart for more stories, trips, and upcoming auction dates at LedbetterAuctions.com.
Before museums and collectors caught on, Tom Wells was documenting Southern folk artists on VHS in the early 1990s. In this episode, Matt Ledbetter sits down with the longtime dealer to revisit those tapes and reflect on discovering artists like Z.B. Armstrong and J.T. McCord. Tom explains how he first met these artists, how relationships developed, how work was sold, and what it looked like to build a market without the internet, price databases, or collector forums. Some of the footage captures artists actively working. The footage captures artists at work and preserves moments from an important era for folk art. CHAPTERS 00:00 | Meeting Tom Wells in Thomson, Georgia 01:39 | First encounter with Z.B. Armstrong 08:24 | National exposure and Southern Magazine 12:19 | Jake J.T. McCord on his front porch 18:46 | Finding Ralph Griffin off a dirt road 27:09 | Jimmy Lee Sudduth and painting with mud 37:21 | Leonard Jones and painted tin 42:21 | Discovering Willie Tarver 46:45 | Meeting Richard Roebuck Do you know a folk artist or have a picking story worth sharing? Leave your name and where you are from and you might hear yourself on a future episode. houseoffolkart@gmail.com (919) 410 8002 Follow @houseoffolkart for more stories, field trips, and upcoming auction dates at LedbetterAuctions.com.
Matt Ledbetter talks with Julian-Sherrod Summers, also known as Red Sanford, about how their shared background in football quietly ran alongside a growing interest in old objects, self-taught artists, and the stories those pieces carry. From there, the conversation opens up into picking, collecting, valuing art, and the long road that led both of them into the folk art world. The conversation moves naturally between football culture, folk art discovery, picking, and the shared duality of living in both physical, competitive worlds and thoughtful, creative ones. Along the way, they talk candidly about how folk art is valued, how artists are discovered, the risks of the art world, and why certain work deserves to be preserved before it disappears. From flea market finds and auction stories to conversations about Black self-taught artists, access, and preservation, this episode moves beyond collecting into questions of visibility, value, and who gets remembered in the art world. Chapters 00:00 | From Football to folk art 03:47 | The folk art table that changed everything 07:25 | Why folk art has no fixed value 11:40 | Selling a Basquiat and pushing outside the art world 18:22 | When art starts to own you 23:57 | Selling a Monet and trusting experience 25:58 | Why folk art is not a get rich quick game 29:40 | Black self-taught artists and preservation 32:01 | Football toughness and artistic sensitivity 38:53 | Cultivating personal collections and living with art 41:19 | Lost houses, lost art, and what can still be saved This conversation moves between football, folk art, and collecting, before turning toward questions of value, access, and preservation, particularly around Black self-taught artists and the environments that shaped their work. Do you know a folk artist or have a picking story worth sharing? Leave your name and where you’re from and you might hear yourself on a future episode. houseoffolkart@gmail.com (919) 410 8002 Follow @houseoffolkart for more conversations, field trips, and upcoming auction dates at LedbetterAuctions.com.
In this episode, Wade Ledbetter sits down with Matt to talk through what real picking looked like before the internet changed the landscape. Long before Marketplace listings and phone searches, picking meant driving back roads, knocking on doors, carrying cash, and trusting instinct. Wade tells the story of calling a jug before it ever came out of the house, walking into basements unannounced, and knowing what mattered before it was labeled, cataloged, or priced. The conversation moves through door knock etiquette, cash strategy, reading people, reading places, and the difference between chasing leads and creating opportunities. From North Carolina back roads to out of state picking runs, police encounters, and lessons learned the hard way, this episode documents a style of picking that relied on preparation, nerve, and experience rather than screens. 00:00 | Welcoming Wade Ledbetter back 01:23 | Introducing the bottle stretcher 03:29 | Beginning the Asheboro door knock story 09:22 | Showing the jug in Bill Ivey’s office 16:32 | What a door knock picker really is 19:46 | The Salisbury basement door knock 23:49 | Advice for new pickers 27:12 | Business cards and contact strategy 29:47 | Getting pulled over while picking 35:08 | Picking before American Pickers 41:05 | Finding and buying a Model T 44:59 | Why back doors matter more than front doors 46:08 | Final advice for door knock pickers This conversation documents a way of picking that existed long before online listings and instant access. Door knocking, carrying cash, reading people, and learning through experience shaped how objects moved from homes to collections. Episode 48 preserves that perspective and the lessons that came with it. Do you know a folk artist or have a picking story worth sharing? Leave your name and where you are from and you might hear yourself on a future episode. houseoffolkart@gmail.com (919) 410 8002 Follow @houseoffolkart for more stories, field trips, and upcoming auction dates at LedbetterAuctions.com.
In this episode of House of Folk Art, Matt Ledbetter sits down with longtime friend and full-time antique dealer Laura Saville for a wide-ranging, honest conversation about what it really means to make a living in antiques. Laura has spends all her time buying, selling, filling booths, working shows, and constantly moving inventory. Inspired by early memories of her grandfather’s Milwaukee saloon to a career at Nordstrom that sharpened her eye for curation and merchandising, Laura explains how every chapter of her life quietly prepared her for this work. Together, Matt and Laura talk about the rhythm of the antiques business, the reality of selling full time, how dealers decide what to hold and what to let go, and why shows like Liberty feel so special. They also reflect on how the trade is changing, why younger dealers are entering the field, and why it is never too late to start if you truly love it. This episode is part storytelling, part shop talk, and part encouragement for anyone curious about life as a full-time antique dealer. Chapters 00:00 | Introducing Laura Saville 02:20 | Knowing Each Other Through Shows and the Trade 05:50 | Always Buying Always Selling 09:40 | Filling Booths and Keeping Inventory Moving 13:25 | No Antiques Growing Up, Except Grandpa 17:45 | Grandpa's Milwaukee Saloon and the Worner Bottle 22:10 | From Nordstrom to Full-Time Antique Dealer 26:30 | Curating, Presentation, and Retail Instincts 31:10 | What to Sell, What to Hold Back 35:40 | Liberty, Shows, and the Energy of the Field 40:05 | Is Being an Antique Dealer Still a Job 44:30 | Younger Dealers and Finding Your Way In 49:20 | It’s Never Too Late to Go Full Time 53:30 | Closing Thoughts on Loving the Work Where to Find Laura Saville Laura Saville is based in North Carolina. You can find her regular booth at The Antique Marketplace, located at 6428 Burnt Poplar Rd, Greensboro, NC 27409. Laura’s booth is the first booth to the left behind the counter. More information: https://antiquemarketplacegso.com Laura also regularly sets up at regional antiques shows, including: The Tarheel Antiques Festival April 10–11, 2026 226 North Lloyd’s Dairy Rd, Efland, NC 27243 https://www.tarheelantiquesfestival.com Liberty Antique Festival April 24–25, 2026 (final Liberty show) 2855 Pike Farm Rd, Staley, NC 27355 Laura’s booth: M5 https://www.libertyantiquesfestival.com Fishersville Antiques Expo May 8–9, 2026 227 Expo Rd, Fishersville, VA 22939 Inside the first building https://www.heritagepromotions.net 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, adventures, and upcoming auction dates at LedbetterAuctions.com.
Mike Smith joins Matt in the gallery with several pieces of folk art pottery headed for the next auction, opening boxes and walking through each form as it comes out. What starts as a straightforward unboxing quickly turns into a deeper conversation about where these pieces came from, who made them, and how easily important work can be overlooked when context is lost. Throughout the episode, Matt and Mike break down what they look for when evaluating folk art pottery, from glaze and form to surface wear and feel in the hand. They talk honestly about how certain pieces struggled to sell years ago, how markets shift, and how experience changes the way collectors see quality over time. Matt shares stories from his early auction days, when significant work passed quietly through sales without much attention. The conversation expands beyond pottery as Mike brings out his photographs and shows off his work in a historic copy of Souls Grown Deep , reflecting on the role photography has played in documenting folk artists and preserving their stories. He shares personal photographs of artists he spent time with, offering a rare look at the people behind the work and the importance of remembering artists as individuals, not just names attached to objects. The episode builds toward several key moments, including evaluating pottery specifically for auction versus personal collecting, discussing insurance and auction value, and deciding when a piece is too strong to hold back. Matt and Mike also talk through provenance, how artists like Willie Massey and others fit into the larger folk art story, and why some of the most meaningful material never comes with labels or paperwork. This episode offers a thoughtful look at folk art pottery, photography, and memory, showing how objects, books, and images work together to keep artists from being forgotten long after their work leaves their hands. Chapters 00:00 | Introducing Mike Smith and Unboxing Folk Art Pottery 02:15 | First Impressions, Form, and Glaze 05:40 | Pottery Headed to the Next Auction 09:10 | When Good Pieces Struggled to Sell 12:30 | How Experience Changes the Way You See Folk Art 16:05 | Talking Provenance and Early Auction Stories 19:20 | Folk Art Pottery Versus Personal Collecting 22:10 | Opening Souls Grown Deep and the Importance of Documentation 25:45 | Remembering Folk Artists Through Photography 29:30 | Personal Photos of Folk Artists and Time Spent Together 33:10 | When a Piece Belongs at Auction 36:40 | Evaluating Value and Market Reality 40:15 | Willie Massey and Upper Tier Folk Art 44:10 | What Gets Lost When Artists Are Forgotten 47:30 | Closing Thoughts on Pottery, Memory, and Folk Art When the last piece is set back on the table, the conversation lingers on the idea that folk art is more than objects moving through auctions. Pottery, photographs, and books all play a role in keeping artists present, even when their voices are gone. This episode is a reminder that remembering the people behind the work is just as important as preserving the work itself. Do you know a folk artist or have a picking story worth sharing 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.
Matt has been raised on canes since he was ten years old, and now he is passing the tradition down by raising his own kids on folk art canes too. From snake wrapped handles to fully carved masterpieces, he walks through some of the best walking sticks in the collection and ends by seeing if Kai can spot the most valuable cane in the room. Throughout the episode he breaks down the difference between a simple carved handle and a true tip to top cane, why certain carvings reveal themselves only under good light, and how collectors can easily overlook the best details when a cane is sitting across a room. Matt gives a full tutorial on what makes a cane great, what makes one just decent, and why a few of these pieces are among the best in the entire folk art world. The episode builds toward two key moments for anyone interested in folk art canes and walking stick collecting. Matt first reveals a top tier 1904 carved cane, a true tip to top masterpiece that he considers one of the best examples of American folk art carving he has ever handled. He then moves into an Antiques Roadshow style appraisal session where he breaks down insurance values, auction estimates, and his own real world offers on several antique canes. Along the way he explains how to identify Mexican folk art canes by the eagle, snake, and cactus motif, how to recognize the hand of a single carver across multiple sticks, and how collectors can display and decorate with canes in their own homes. This episode offers one of Matt’s most in depth looks at folk art canes and why he has collected them for so long. Raising canes takes on an entirely new meaning in this one. Chapters 00:00 | Introducing the Cane Collection and Matt’s Early Start in Folk Art 01:20 | The Red Painted Hand Cane and the Skeleton Bone Cane 04:21 | Hidden Details on the Cat and Snake Cane 05:57 | The Florida Alligator Cane 08:34 | The Natural Root Cane with Folded Hands 10:13 | A Rare Cabinet Card Featuring a Basket and Walking Stick 11:58 | Comparing a Mid Level Cane to a Tremendous Cane 16:26 | Introducing the 1904 Cane and Why It Stands Out 22:04 | What the Carver Might Say if Canes Could Speak 23:45 | Insurance Values, Auction Estimates, and High End Cane Collecting 27:57 | How to Identify Mexican Folk Art Canes 32:00 | Discovering a Carver Through Matching Umbrella Canes 36:39 | The Contemporary Lee Reese Cane from Salem South Carolina 40:46 | How a Cane Grows 42:52 | Decorating with Folk Art Canes at Home 44:03 | Asking a Young Collector to Choose the Most Valuable Cane When the last cane goes back on the table, Matt is reminded how much history can live inside a simple piece of wood. The anonymous carvers of the early 1900s, the regional styles, and the newer makers like Lee Reese all show how folk art canes evolve while still holding on to their roots. Do you know a folk artist or have a picking story worth sharing houseoffolkart@gmail.com (919) 410 8002 Leave your name and where you are from and you might hear yourself on the next episode. Follow @houseoffolkart for more stories, adventures, and upcoming auction dates at LedbetterAuctions.com.
Matt sits down with his dad, the infamous Wade Ledbetter, inside the auction gallery for a story Wade admits might be risky to even share. What starts as a quiet memory from rural Alamance County quickly turns into a mystery about a ten foot clock, a fifty thousand dollar offer from Henry Ford’s museum team, and a farmhouse fire that erased everything. Wade takes Matt back to the days when he delivered milk to the Krauss family and explains why the story of that clock stayed with him for more than fifty years. That secret leads Matt to share a story of his own. At twenty five, he walked into a house in Virginia that changed everything for him as a picker. A house filled with museum tagged antiques, rare crystal, first edition books, and paintings he was not yet experienced enough to understand. It was the pick of a lifetime, the kind that teaches you more in a day than years of picking can. Two stories from two Ledbetters. One about a clock that vanished. One about a house that should never have been lost. 00:00 | Wade Introduces the Krauss Family and the Mysterious Clock 06:40 | Henry Ford’s Buyers and the Fifty Thousand Dollar Offer 13:50 | The House Fire, the Surviving Clock Weight, and Wade’s Milk Route 18:50 | Why Wade Believes the Clock Story Still Matters 25:30 | Wade’s Attic Finds and Early Picking Lessons 29:01 | Wade’s Unexpected Friendship with Mickey Mantle 38:28 | Matt Heads North and Walks Into a Once in a Lifetime House 45:20 | The Crystal, Paintings, and Museum Tagged Pieces Inside Phil’s Home 52:00 | Matt’s Big Scores and the Things He Missed 58:20 | Phil Passes Away and the House Is Emptied 01:00:40 | Closing Thoughts with Matt and Wade As the conversation winds down, Matt and Wade reflect on the stories that shape a picker’s life. From a vanished Alamance County clock to the house that launched Matt’s career, these moments remind us that the best finds are often the ones you cannot plan for. Every attic, every basement, and every back road has a secret waiting on the other side of the door. Do you know a folk artist or have a picking story worth sharing houseoffolkart@gmail.com (919) 410 8002 Leave your name and where you are from and you might hear yourself on the next episode. Follow @houseoffolkart for more stories, field trips, and upcoming auction dates at LedbetterAuctions.com
Matt and Kyle sit down after two full days of picking at the Liberty Antiques Festival in Liberty, North Carolina. Surrounded by their finds, they go through the haul piece by piece, from rare signed North Carolina pottery and 19th-century paintings to a pristine Benny Carter saw. The conversation dives into the stories behind the buys, the lessons learned from years on the road, and the excitement that comes with finding something special in a sea of booths. From showcase surprises to pottery discoveries, this episode captures the rhythm and reward of a good show weekend. Chapters 00:00 | Let’s get ready to go through the Liberty haul 04:54 | Matt reflects on first trips to Liberty and twenty years of picking 07:17 | The showcase buy and how to think through bulk deals 09:10 | Pottery finds at Liberty 14:41 | The mini painted basket 16:37 | 19th-century gilt frame paintings 19:37 | The $90 oval portrait 29:48 | Benny Carter painted saw and birdhouse 34:35 | Back to the showcase treasures and collecting small finds 48:28 | Reflections on Liberty and looking ahead 50:47 | Send in your folky stories As the conversation wraps, Matt and Kyle look ahead to the next round of shows and auctions, reflecting on what makes Liberty so unique. From pottery and paintings to showcase treasures, the episode reminds us that every object has a story and every picker has a tale worth telling. Watch the Dealer Setup Day vlog titled “Day 1 at Liberty Antique Festival | Quilts, Baskets, and a Ghost Table” now on the House of Folk Art channel. The second Liberty vlog will be released next Monday and will feature many of the items discussed in this episode. Do you know a folk artist? Send in your folky stories: 📧 houseoffolkart@gmail.com 📞 (919) 410-8002 Leave your name and where you’re from, and you might get a shoutout on the next podcast. Follow @houseoffolkart for more behind-the-scenes stories and upcoming auction dates at LedbetterAuctions.com.
Matt and Sully sit down inside the Griffith Fine Art Museum at Red Oak Brewery to explore where fine art and folk art meet. Surrounded by a collection of American Impressionist paintings from the late 1800s, they talk about the crossover between high-end galleries and the handmade traditions that define Southern craftsmanship. What starts as a laid-back conversation over a Hummingbird Golden Lager quickly turns into a mix of history, humor, and collecting philosophy. Matt shares stories about his early days picking with his father, his time at auctioneering school, and how the lessons of the field still guide his work today. Sully brings up Liberty Antiques Festival, walking stick rivalries, and the fine line between a good buy and a mistake that costs you $900. From pottery and furniture to NFTs, the conversation reminds us that every object has a story, whether it’s hanging in a museum or hidden in a barn. Chapters: 00:00 | Welcome to Red Oak Brewery 06:48 | Has Sully Been Practicing His Bid Calling? Matt Reflects on Auction School and Early Success 09:17 | Who’s Coming to Liberty Tomorrow? 16:15 | Crypto Tales, NFTs, and Auction Adventures 20:50 | Big Buys and the Art of the Auction 30:51 | Matt Recalls One of the Best Tables He Ever Picked 40:08 | Game Day Predictions for Liberty 51:03 | One of the Last Liberty Antiques Festivals 59:56 | Our First Calls to the Folk Art Hotline As the conversation wraps, Matt and Sully raise a final glass to Red Oak for having us into their gallery and to everyone keeping art alive. Whether it’s a face jug, a walking stick, or a miniature chair, every handmade object carries a story worth telling. Do you know a folk artist? Send in your folky stories: 📧 houseoffolkart@gmail.com 📞 (919) 410-8002 Leave your name and where you’re from, and you might just get a shoutout on the next podcast. Follow @houseoffolkart for more behind-the-scenes stories and upcoming auction dates at LedbetterAuctions.com.
