❥ whose devil is this?

this week in outsider art features how to write a love story, the tree talker, a lion cub and snake, plus folkartwork and friends is on youtube and are you a paid subscriber?

Dec 14, 2025

THIS WEEK IN OUTSIDER ART

for daily postings of outsider art visit folkartwork.art or follow on instagram

**JANVIER LOUIS-JUSTE** Devil (c. 1960; Haiti) // Metal, paint; 19 5/16 × 17 11/16 × 4 3/4 in. (49 × 45 × 12 cm) via *Museum of International Folk Art*

**SARAH THERESA LEE** How to Write a Love Story (2025) // Acrylic on wood panel; 16 x 12 in. (40.6 x 30.5 cm) via *Ricco/Maresca Gallery*

**ADAM YOUNG** The Tree Talker (2025) // Acrylic, Pencil & White Charcoal on Douglas Fir Panel; 24.5 × 24.5” via *Webb Gallery*

**ARTIST UNKNOWN** Lion Cub & Snake (c. 1860-80; Mansfield, PA) // Carved wood; 7 3/8” (w) x 6 1/2” x 2 1/2” (d) via *Steven S. Powers*

**NELLIE MAE ROWE** Untitled (Figures with Cats) (1978–1982) // Crayon and marker on paper; 18 3/4 x 24 inches via *High Museum of Art*

**ARTIST UNKNOWN** Elixer of Life (Carnival sign with Ancient Egyptian winged scarab and pyramid) (c. 1900) // Hand-carved wood and paint; Height: 26 in (66.04 cm) Width: 22 in (55.88 cm) Depth: 2.75 in (6.99 cm) via *1st Dibs*

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Fish Decoy from the Ojibwe people of Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin (late 19th century) // Wood, paint, metal, and lead weight via *Milwaukee Art Museum*

**BENJAMIN BONJOUR** Cats and birds (date unknown) // Drawing in felt-tip pen and oil pastel on yellow paper; 23.1 x 31.6 cm via *Musee LaM*

**JIM WORK** Untitled large-scale highway drawing (c. 1990) // Crayon on paper; approx 20x40 inches via *The Pardee Collection*

**ARTIST UNKNOWN** Japanese Deco Lacquer Box/Tray with Juggling Clown (c. 1920s-30s) // Paint on black box; 8 1/2” d x 1 5/8” d via *Critical Eye Finds*

**MARVIN BAILEY** Drippy Eyeball Jug (c. 2025) via *Ledbetter Folk Art Auction*

The biggest congratulations to **Nnena Kalu**, the winner of the 2025 Turner Prize — the highest honor for contemporary artists in the UK and the first artist with a learning disability to earn the distinction. (photo via *ActionSpace*)

“Born in Glasgow in 1966 to Nigerian parents, Kalu lives and works in London, where she has been an artist-in-residence at ActionSpace, an organization that hosts artists with disabilities, for the past 25 years. The 59-year-old artist typically works by wrapping, coiling, and knotting pieces of fabric, rope, and even magnetic tape from VHS cassettes around a tube or other framework, achieving spirals, spools, and coils in sculptures that are both familiar and improvisational. She mirrors these gestures in her drawings, using pen, graphite, and pastels in circular motions.” (Hyperallergic)

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FEATURED ARTIST OF THE WEEK

new painting on wood from the homie Joseph Carway courtesy *the artist*

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WATCHING AND READING

Here are a few things I’ve been watching this past week:

Here are a few things I’ve been reading this past week:

OH WORD?

**UNKNOWN** Possible Skeletal Axe Head / Likely Mould for Ancient Game (c. 300 – 1200 CE; Veracruz, Mexico culture) // Hand-carved stone; Height: 26.30 centimetres x Width: 2 centimetres via *The British Museum*

The year is coming to an end soon, which means it is time to look back on the year that was, to reflect and grow — or, in our case, just remember how much amazing, incredible art was shared. Over 1000 this year alone!

Next week, we will begin the top fifteen posts of 2025 countdown, featuring all the top works you liked. But why stop at fifteen? This past week in the “B-B-Bonus This Week in Outsider Art” newsletter (for paid subscribers and out every Wednesday), we looked back at 30-16.

A few of them are seen here.

“I supported this work because you give so generously and I believe it’s vital to celebrate art created beyond the industrial art complex” — a real life paid subscriber who I can’t thank enough!

If you haven’t yet, an upgraded subscription gets you even more outsider art throughout the week, from an entirely self-funded, very tired art teacher, husband, father, and lover of all things outsider art. I truly do love sharing my favorite art, learning about new artists, collections, and pieces of art that blow me away. So thanks to everyone for following along and enjoying it as much as I do!

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SHOUT OUT

Shout out to full epsiodes of FolkArtwork and Friends, the latest episode with Jennifer Gilbert of Jennifer Gilbert Gallery, available on YouTube. For exclusive photos of Shinichi Sawada and his process, watch now! Thanks again to Jennifer for joining me and for championing self-taught artists and artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities!

New episodes out every first Friday of the month, on your favorite podcast player -- Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and with video on YouTube. Like, subscribe, share, please leave a review, and keep coming back for more. Thanks so much!

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FROM THE COLLECTIVE

LESLEY MISERABLES is self-taught painter M. Turner, now based full time in London painting from a sturdy shed at the bottom of his garden. He therapeutically works his way through years of mental images, feelings and thoughts, considerations and perplexmxent now attempted to be brushed down onto a canvas. His works are inspired by nature and the influence it has on one’s psyche, made in a swift colorful stream of conciseness.

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This Week in Outsider Art

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