In the fifth episode of FolkArtwork and Friends, self-taught artist Esteban Whiteside joins on a beautiful sunny morning to talk about how growing up, he was turned off from artwork because he could never draw realistically. After his dreams of playing professional basketball were dashed (I can relate), it was the free time he had while bartending and working as a security guard in one of his favorite museum collections that convinced him he could make art. After years of hustling and finding his calling, years later, he's still making some of the most poignant and powerful artwork in the contemporary art world.

Plus, a look into the life and work of self-taught artist Steve Ashby, an artist who was brought to my attention thanks to Esteban, who didn't start carving wood and making art well into his 60's.

Follow Esteban on Instagram at @esteban.whiteside and shop his artwork at estebanwhiteside.com or on FolkArtwork at www.folkartwork.art/shop/esteban-whiteside

Follow @folkartwork on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube for more

Subscribe to the "This Week in Outsider Art" Newsletter on Substack

Visit folkartwork.art to shop self-taught art by emerging contemporary artists

AND if you are in the Des Moines area, come to the Mainframe Studios "First Friday" event on January 2nd from 5pm-8pm to see me hanging out with Ashley Mary in her beautiful studio and selling artwork for my friends self-taught artist Reneesha Mccoy and Canadian folk artist Jackie Bradshaw.

• (00:00:07) - Folk Artwork & Friends
• (00:01:24) - Folk Art
• (00:02:40) - Interviewing Black Artist Esteban Whiteside
• (00:04:44) - A Little Compliment For Your Work
• (00:05:19) - Adam Levine on His Art When He Was Growing Up
• (00:08:50) - Did You Start Drawing Before College?
• (00:12:45) - The Des Moines Art Center Guard's Job
• (00:14:16) - Drawing While Drinking Alcohol
• (00:17:15) - Louis Mangion on Becoming an
• (00:24:24) - Steve Ashby and Elijah Pierce on Drawing
• (00:27:04) - How Having Kids Affects Your Work
• (00:30:31) - "2026": Plans to travel to North Carolina
• (00:32:22) - Esteban Whiteside at the Art Fair
• (00:35:38) - Steve Ashby

In the fourth episode of FolkArtwork and Friends, a longtime friend and champion of self-taught, disabled, and overlooked artists from around the world joins me -- Jennifer Gilbert of Jennlifer Lauren Gallery in Manchester. Jennifer shares her background and her work as a curator and advocate for inclusive art, from studying graphic design to discovering outsider art through her work with artists with schizophrenia, as well as curating her recent exhibit "Look Everywhere" with the artists whose work made up the brilliant show. All that, and more, including her outsider art collection series, what galleries and museums can do to be more inclusive, and meeting the one and only Shinichi Sawada.

Plus, a look into the life and work of Japanese ceramicist Shinichi Sawada, who spent almost two decades baking bread in his mornings and creating out-of-this-world clay creatures in the afternoon -- all on the side of a mountain, firing his creations in a traditional wood fire oven, and becoming an internationally renowned artist.

Follow Jennifer on Instagram at @j_lgallery and check out her collector series interviews and learn more about her work here: http://jenniferlaurengallery.com/

Follow @folkartwork on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube for more

Subscribe to the "This Week in Outsider Art" Newsletter on Substack

Visit folkartwork.art to shop self-taught art by emerging contemporary artists

AND if you are in the Des Moines area, come to the Mainframe Studios "First Friday" event on December 5th from 5pm-8pm to see me hanging out with Ashley Mary in her beautiful studio and selling artwork for my friends self-taught artist Reneesha Mccoy and Canadian folk artist Jackie Bradshaw.

• (00:00:00) - Meet Naina Kalu
• (00:03:58) - Jennifer Gilbert on Outsider Art
• (00:05:35) - Shinichi Sawada at the Outsider Art Fair
• (00:06:54) - How to Talk to an Artist With a Disability
• (00:11:16) - Working on a Graphic Design degree
• (00:15:20) - Philip Glass on His Second Home
• (00:16:06) - Curating Look Here: 30 Progressive Art Studios Across America
• (00:24:55) - The Unlocking the Outsider Art Fair
• (00:31:37) - The Art of Being Able to See
• (00:35:41) - Interview
• (00:40:44) - The Secret Life of Art Collectors
• (00:45:08) - A Conversation With Shinichi Sawada
• (00:45:59) - Shinichi Sawada's Discerning Work
• (00:50:56) - Soada's work as an autistic artist
• (00:56:51) - The Japanese ceramicist's
• (01:01:52) - Meet Naina Kalu, the Turner Prize
• (01:04:58) - Shinichi Sawada's Sculptural Creatures
• (01:13:43) - Folk Art and Friends

In the third episode of FolkArtwork and Friends, instead of telling you about one of my favorite artists, I am joined by one of my favorite contemporary self-taught artists Montrel Beverly. This summer, Montrel was generous enough to create a few pieces of art for the show I curated at SAGE Studio & Gallery, and he continues to push the boundaries of what seems possible with art made from pipe cleaners. We talk about the first pipe-cleaner sculpture he ever made, a pipe-cleaner prank he pulled in high school, and his plans for a pipe-cleaner world record.

Plus, you can see his work this January 2026 in Los Angeles at Megan Mulrooney Gallery.

Follow Montrel on Instagram at @mrclowney_

Follow @folkartwork on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube for more

Subscribe to the "This Week in Outsider Art" Newsletter on Substack

Visit folkartwork.art to shop self-taught art by emerging contemporary artists.