Outsider Artist, Doug Odom

Outsider Art: Doug Odom, "Girl with Doll" is one of two Odom paintings offered at The 31 Gallery.

I have to admit, I couldn't stay away from the Glenview art show yesterday. This urge to return and tell the two wonderful ladies at the show I had written about in the previous blog overtook me I’m very hopeful my readers will follow these artists, because I think their art will be searched out in the future by collectors and will survive the test of time. While I wasn’t looking for thanks, they thanked me so much, and I assured them this wasn’t going to be the last time they heard from me.

While my opinions from the previous day remain the same, there were a few of the artist who caught my eye again once I returned, but they were the same ones as before. And, while this is just one man’s opinion, this is all I can write about from the show. However, I did meet up with an old friend who was exhibiting, and I can once again say he was the hit of the show. I mentioned in yesterday’s blog I would write about this special artist today.

He is perhaps the best known outsider artist around, and his paintings are unique, and I knew I wasn’t alone in my opinion when I stood in his booth, crowded with people commenting in awe and excitement in their voices as they viewed his work for the first time. Once you see one of his paintings you can't help but comment on it. His name is Doug Odom, and one of the things I like best about his work is that it appeals to both children and adults.

Doug had became a friend of mine almost a year ago. In fact, he was a guest in my home and I got to spend some quality time with him. However, our friendship doesn't reflect in my judgment of his talent, which is huge. I never tireof his good old boy demeanor as he tells his audience about life in lower Alabama. Whether you wear a suit or a pair of jeans, you’ll stop and listen to what Doug is saying. I overheard a conversation between Doug and a gentleman in his booth that made me, as well as everyone else roar with laughter. The man asked Doug if he had an e-mail address, and Doug replied, “Not in Alabama.”

“How about a phone number?”

“Not one you could reach me on,” Doug replied.

By this time, I could see from the gentleman’s face he was getting frustrated, but it was then Doug told him, “I can tell you where I live.”

“Are you sure,” the man asked tongue in cheek, and the crowed gave out a huge laugh.

If you know me, I’m sure you’ll know by know that one of my stories is coming about this point, so here goes: As I was making my way toward Doug's booth, I noticed a man carrying a very large painting, but it was facing away from me. I walked around the man because I thought I recognized it. Sure enough, it was one of Doug's works I’ll call “The Yellow School Bus.” You see, I had seen him working on this piece the day before. At that time, it was just this large yellow bus with children riding on it. While I hung around his booth, I noticed that as children approached this painting he would ask them if they’d like to ride on the bus. If their answer was yes, he’d ask where they wanted to sit. You might have guessed, but when they told Doug where they wanted to sit, he’d paint them into the piece right where they chose to sit and added their name to the piece.

So, when I arrived at Doug’s booth, I thought I’d have a little fun with him. He saw me and I started looking around at the paintings. “Where’s my painting,” I asked Doug?

“Which one,” he asked?

“The Yellow School Bus.”

He thought for a moment, then pointed up the aisle and said, “It went that away.”

I couldn’t help but tell him I’d seen the man carrying it, and Doug told me it was going into a museum. Keep a keen eye out for Doug’s work because people haven’t yet fully recognized how unique it is. Our gallery has two of his pieces available and you can view them here.

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Check out the new Paintings and new items in our Gallery and Marketplace here.

31 Club Antiques & Collectible Club is Growing

Through the 31 Club Associates Program, a 31 Club Member was able to participate in bidding for Carl Christian Brenner's "Birch Trees in Winter Sunset", at Kenneth W. Van Blarcom Auctioneers yesterday.

Yesterday, I bid on our first Associate’s Program Item. If you remember, the Associates Program is set up to help 31 Club Members make money on items they are not yet able to personally purchase. By partnering with us on these items, we can all come out ahead.

Our member, Jerry, came across a Carl Christian Brenner painting that looked promising, but he didn’t have the funds necessary to make this purchase alone. That’s when he called us. It was exciting being on the phone, bidding live for the painting. However, the bids on this painting went higher than our criteria for purchasing it would allow. Although I gave it a great college try, we were unsuccessful in obtaining this piece. Jerry said he would be on the lookout for more items to partner up on with the 31 Club in the future, and I hope more of you will take advantage of this program. It can be a big factor in moving forward.

Exciting things are happening at the 31 Club. Jeremy Peterson has just been accepted as our new Internet Specialist. He’ll be working alongside Chris and Cindy to bring you the best the internet offers. Having a Masters in Internet Technology certainly won’t hurt either.

Our new look should be up very quickly and I think that you will be extremely pleased with all the new features. By Jeremy joining us, Cindy and Chris will be able to concentrate on the frame work of our site and its content. I hope to spend more time writing and acquiring items to sell for the 31 Gang. We’re committed to winning the Million Dollar Race.

Now is the time to give us your suggestion on how to make The 31 Club better and more productive for you. What can we offer you that we’re overlooking.? E-mail us your suggestions. You will find that our market place will be expanding and this will be a great place for you to list items for sale because buyers will be searching us out as Jeremy broadens our exposure on the net.
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Tomorrow, I hope to put to rest the belief that there are no longer treasures to be found by people like me and you. This story will get you off the couch and searching for treasures for your own inventory.

I am so pleased to see that e-mails I receive from members and readers are containing nothing but positive news. In fact, I haven’t read many negative articles about the Antiques and Collectible Markets for quite some time now. I think we have won over some converts.

Don’t just follow the daily Blog. Join with like-minded 31 Club Members. Turbo charge your treasure hunting. Learn Inside the Industry Secrets. Learn to build a bank account to last a lifetime, buying and selling antiques, fine art, and collectibles. My 220 page book, 31 Steps to Your Millions in Antiques & Collectibles is FREE with your membership. The book is also available on Amazon.com. If you buy the book on Amazon, then the membership is FREE.

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Daryle Lambert: Surprise Value in Sleeper Paintings -- Harvey Joiner

Just because the art world is on fire doesn't mean that every artist will have his work available for sale in the market. Why is this important to know?

Let's take Kentucky artist, Harvey Joiner for example. Though he was exceptionally skilled in portraiture, having painted the first five Indiana Governors and portraits of prominent people of the time, he became best known for his paintings of Cherokee Park in Louisville, Kentucky. He was born in 1852 and died 1932. His work wasn't appreciated until the last few years, and not many of his paintings have changed hands throughout the art world . Most of his paintings have stayed within the families they were painted for. If they were purchased, they were handed down through the families.

Because his paintings very seldom come on the market, his sales prices in the art guides have stayed very low. In fact, over the last ten years, you can find very few listings and prices of his work sold. If you look him up in the ASK ART guide, you will find 15 listings, and only two of these listings are over ten years old, and most of them are within the last two years.

Because of this, the prices for his paintings are way behind the market. In ASK ART his highest listing is $4,000, but I personally know that some of his paintings have brought over $10,000 when sold through private transactions. Do you think this information gives you the advantage when you spot a Joiner, knowing that if a person researched it, they could only find a value of $4,000 or less?

When you are studying painters, check to see when their last painting came up for auction. This might just give you the clue that you're searching for. If it has been quite a while since something has sold, you can take an educated guess that the value might have appreciated several times from that sale but not be shown by the guides.

What I find is that there seems to be works from a small group of painters the market continually sells over and over. In fact, as I check ASK ART, I often find the same painting has sold four or five times in the last ten years. The term "new to the market," often tossed around by the auction houses, to me means that no one knows what the true value will be when the painting is sold.

Let's look and see what we can learn from this. If you're considering making an offer on a painting, and the artist hasn't had a piece come to market for a while, take that as a plus, because more than likely it will be undervalued. Second, if it has been several years since the artist has had one of his paintings sold, you might find that they are selling at a huge premium in the private market compared to the values that are in the guides. An example of this is a Pauline Palmer painting sold privately by one of our 31 Club members for $120,000, yet the auction guides list Palmer's highest price gained at an auction around $50,000. Third, your study and knowledge can come into play because most people simply look at the auction record guides, then offer half of what the guide states. You might offer more than the guide shows.

One of the greatest benefits to being a member of the 31 Club is that you'll have access to all the information necessary to evaluate a painting. When you call us and e-mail the specifics of the piece, such as size, type of painting, artist's name, photos of the front and back, perhaps some detail shots, and a shot of the signature, we can give you an estimated value. We can even purchase the painting with you if you choose.

The main reason I now spend 75% of my time in the art field is because that is were the big money can be found. Just check the auction records in the trade paper. You'll see what I mean.

Have you taken out your subscriptions to the Maine Antique Digest, AntiqueWeek, and The Antique Trader? What are you waiting for? These are your guides to wealth. One poor or mediocre painting bought because you read an article in one of these papers can pay for all of them for the rest of your life.

Today's Photo is a detail from a portrait by Harvey Joiner, currently up for auction at Sohn's Auction House in Evansville, Indiana at this weekend's auction, beginning Friday.

If you're looking for the pathway to reach your goals with antiques, collectibles and fine art, the 31 Club can be the venue that will give you the nuts and bolts for successfully buying, selling and profiting in the 21st Century Marketplace. Join us today and rub shoulders with like-minded people.

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