I once heard someone somewhere say, “I wish Halloween was all year long”.
Oh yeah, that was me! Happy Halloween and to help celebrate, we of course, have the creepiest, cutest, and most spectacular artwork from self-taught artists around the globe.
Whether Mike Combs and his creeps are your speed, or the “Monster Toddlers” prints by Sarah Lee — we’ve got you covered!
Shop original artwork from self-taught artists all year long. And see even more at the first ever FolkArtwork exhibit, “Faces In The Crowd” opening on Saturday, November 9th in Des Moines, Iowa.
Mike Combs
Mike Combs // Creep #2
MIKE COMBS Creep #2 (c. 2020-2024) // Spray paint, house paint, and acrylic paint on upcycled panels from husked corn crates
Mike Combs is a self-taught artist from Austin, Texas who for the past decade has been creating “Creeps” on up cycled husk corn crates using spray paint, house paint, and acrylic paint. You can find his “Creeps” on the walls of private collections across the country, as well as Austin galleries and streets.
Christopher Bame
Christopher Bame // Untitled (South Burlington VT)
CHRISTOPHER BAME Untitled (South Burlington VT) (date unknown) // Mixed media; markers and paint
Christopher Bame was born on June 1, 1955 in Burlington, Vermont. He was premature at birth and diagnosed completely deaf. In his early childhood he was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, OCD, and having developmental delays. Bame spent the majority of his childhood in an institutional setting.
He started using art at a young age as a way to communicate with his peers, convey his needs, and tell stories about his day. His narrative paintings and drawings often capture autobiographical storytelling through whimsy and vulnerability.
See more from Christopher Bame.
Sarah Lee
Sarah Lee is a self-taught Irish artist and illustrator working in London. Working full-time as a nurse and at a charity that runs workshops for people with mental health conditions. When she isn’t working or spending time with her daughter, Sarah paints every chance she gets.
Since she was a kid, she has made up characters and scenarios in her head and has always loved making art. She was once told by an art teacher that she wasn’t good at art, and it took years for her to finally pick back up a paintbrush and put those characters and scenarios down on canvas.
I was thinking about this the other day and I realized the monster toddlers are characters I have been drawing since I was about 10 years old. When I was a young kid I was obsessed with horror films, the weirder the better. I guess because I had older sisters, I watched some questionable films from a very young age. I remember watching “Rosemarys Baby” and “Suspiria” when I was around 9 years old. And I was addicted to “Twin Peaks” when it first came out, when I was around 10 years old.
SARAH LEE
READ: Sarah Lee, Once Banned From Taking Art, Never Stopped Creating
More work by Sarah:
Noel Hatfield
Noel Hatfield is a 73-year-old self-taught artist from Winterest, Iowa. Working in oil paint on stretched canvas or dibond aluminum, Noel paints in several styles including Abstract, Expressionist, and Impasto with knife and brush. When he is not painting, Noel is fixing up his house or taking care of his grandchildren.
Noel Hatfield // Fear Factor
NOEL HATFIELD Fear Factor (c. 2020) // Oil Painting on Dibond Aluminum
Lorena Eliasen
Lorena Eliasen // Crow
LORENA ELIASEN Crow (2024) // Acrylic gouache on wood
Lorena Eliasen is a folk artist and illustrator living in Saint Augustine, Florida. She has a BFA from Parson School of Design and has worked on Children’s books and Pattern and Packaging Design with companies like Scholastic, Libraries Unlimited Publishing, Richard Leeds, Townley Girl and Vandale Industries in New York City.
About the FolkArtwork Collective
It brings me great pleasure to introduce the FolkArtwork Collective — a fantastic group of self-taught and emerging artists from across the globe. Jackie Bradshaw, Esteban Whiteside, Sarah Lee, and Noel Hatfield are the first artists to bring original artwork directly to the FolkArtwork web store on both FolkArtwork.art/shop and directly on Instagram. I am very pleased to also add Reneesha Mccoy, Jordan Sullivan, Gabrielle K Brown, Christopher Bame, Max Kuhn, Ben Gardner and in 2024, Melody Jean Moulton, Dinah Hanson-Carrillo, Lindsay Carraway, Kathy Edwards Hayslett, Lorena Eliasen, and Mike Combs to the collective.
After four years of running this account, it has evolved. From sharing daily art by great outsider and self-taught artists who are no longer with us, I am thrilled to share this space with current artists to assist in their artistic journey and bring their artwork to the masses and maybe to a home near you.
I am excited to see FolkArtwork evolve and grow. We will continue to share daily outsider artwork by some of the greatest artists ever. You’ll see pictures from travels across the country of unknown and hidden art environments. Now with original, affordable, and self-taught artwork available for purchase.
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