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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Antique Season in Full Bloom. What's Turning Up?

Jim Rabby, "Sunflowers," discovered at a House Sale by a 31 Club Member, is Offered at $3,500 in the 31 Gallery.

The weather finally warmed up in Chicago in its typical fashion – from 40 degrees one day to over to 90 degrees the next, and thankfully, the antique season blew in along with the warm breeze. But, how can these warm summer breezes make us money, and what might be the perfect treasure to look for?

Summer generally sees the number of sales being conducted, and I’ve noticed the number of sales in my area in unusually high. I’m guessing that people are scraping up extra money as economic times become a little more difficult. This presents a greater opportunity to find treasures.

The number of auctions increase in the summertime, as well, and this will give you many opportunities to consign your purchases and watch your account grow. With school out for most of us, you might be able to incorporate trips into business trips as well, as long as you spend some time locating and purchasing treasure for your inventory. What a great summer this might prove to be.

Paintings and Drawings Will Always Have Good Value

What will we be looking, for in the way of treasure this summer? I like to search for things that are harder for most people to evaluate. Painting and Drawings will always have good value, even if you can’t identify the artist, and these can qualify for being harder for most people to evaluate.
A good painting is a good painting regardless of who did it. While these may not bring as much as Andy Warhol’s 73 million dollar painting, if you only paid $40 to $100 for it and you’ve made a profit of ten times your investment, then what’s wrong with that? Often I’ve seen a $500 frame with an original painting sell for under $100. This is truly what we are looking for while we’re awaiting that special treasure to come our way.

If you begin to take notice of the artwork at each sale you attend, you might be surprised at what can happen. I’ll give you an idea by sharing William’s story. William is new 31 Club member and a newbie to this industry. His first purchase of a Jim Rabby painting for $40 is now listed in the 31 Club Marketplace for $3,500 (a fair price for this artist.) His next purchase of a 1904 M. Van Buren painting of cattle resting in a stream is a very popular subject matter in fine art paintings, and this artist has painted it superbly. I just sold one a similar themed painting in Evansville, Indiana for over $2500 and, believe me, it wasn't as well painted as this one and was much smaller.

When William first sent me photos of the painting, I figured it would be priced at $5,000 considering its size and excellent workmanship. The people selling this were asking $400, already a bargain, but when it was still there the last day of the sale, I instructed William to offer $100. To his amazement, they accepted his offer. It’s now listed with us at $1,000. Personally, I think it’s way too cheap, but William wants to make his first sale. It shouldn’t stay listed long at that price.

After all this, you probably won’t believe this next one, but William just sent me another photo of a painting that had been in the same family since the early 1940’s. I personally fell in love with this piece and he hadn’t purchased it at the sale, so I sent him scurrying back to purchase it. It was so nice I found myself holding my breath, fearing it might be sold, before I finally heard back from William. Although the painting is unsigned, the family had a record of when it was painted, along with the scene and location of the subject matter. I think William is stuck on the $40 figure, because that’s what he got it for.

This latest painting is a fine painting, but what will the public pay for it? Perhaps $1,000 or $2,500? I’ll have to let him make that decision. The way I figure it, he invested a total of $180 for three paintings with the potential selling price of $5,500 or more. Not bad for a man who told me he didn’t know anything about this business.

I have shared with you what I think is the number one item to keep your eyes out for, but I would love to hear what you will be looking for as we come out of our winter hibernation.

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