Podcast
House of Folk Art
Hosted by Matt Ledbetter · EN
Join Matt Ledbetter, esteemed auctioneer and folk art connoisseur hailing from Gibsonville, North Carolina, as he unveils the rich tapestry of Southern Folk Art. With personal ties to numerous folk artists through his renowned quarterly auctions, Matt brings you on a journey through the intricate history, the profound motivations, and the intimate encounters that shape the world of folk art.
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Episode 56 | Liberty Buys, Fishersville Plans, and One Last Look at Benny Carter
2w ago00:42:03Tap to summarizeMatt returns to the auction gallery after Liberty with the buys still sitting behind him and another show already on the calendar. This time, the conversation picks up in that brief window between antique shows, when the dust from one trip has barely settled and the next one is already starting to take shape.Liberty had the feeling of a final chapter, but not necessarily a dead end. After months of questions about what the last Liberty show would mean, Matt came away with a different impression. Dealers were still buying, still selling, and many were already talking about setting up again when the show moves into its next form. For Matt, the proof of the show was sitting right there in the room. He bought steadily, stayed late, and even kept working the field during pack up, coming home with pottery, baskets, canes, quilts, and a late day monkey jug that sends him into a full dealer’s breakdown.From there, the episode turns north toward Fishersville, Virginia. The Fishersville Antiques Expo sits in the Shenandoah Valley, and Matt talks through why that region changes the kind of material you expect to see. Virginia brings a different layer of age and history into the hunt, with early period furniture, painted blanket chests, blue decorated stoneware, baskets, folk art canes, and other forms that can reach back deeper than the material usually found at Southern shows. For Matt, Fishersville is not just another stop after Liberty. It is a different buying environment, with a different pace, a different geography, and the possibility of finding pieces that can still make the whole trip worth it.The episode also opens up the practical side of the antiques business. Matt talks about buying with the auction in mind, teaching his son how money moves through the trade, and why collecting and dealing are not always the same thing. Some pieces stay in the collection. Some pieces go straight back into the market. Others become part of the education that happens along the way. By the end of the Fishersville run, the plan is to bring everything back to Ledbetter Auctions, photograph it, list it, and let viewers see what the Liberty and Fishersville buys actually do once they hit the auction block.The final section shifts from the road back into the gallery, where Matt walks through the Benny Carter display arranged for a North Carolina Folk Art Society exhibit and book event. The room is filled with Carter’s birdhouses, New York City paintings, clocks, Noah’s Ark scenes, poem paintings, cutouts, and one remarkable Annie Moon doll made to look like Benny himself. Matt traces Carter’s development from early birdhouses to dense city scenes, from unfinished late paintings to self-made clocks, showing how one artist returned again and again to the same subjects while constantly reworking them.By the end, the episode becomes more than a recap. It is a look at the cycle that keeps this world moving: the show field, the auction house, the collector’s eye, the dealer’s risk, and the folk art that gives the whole thing a reason to keep going.Chapters00:00 | Back at the Auction Gallery Between Antique Shows04:01 | Previewing the Next Trip to Fishersville10:38 | Reflecting on the Last Day at Liberty14:19 | At 14, You Can Work at Subway or Be an Antique Dealer17:39 | Expectations for Fishersville25:49 | Who Was Benny Carter?28:55 | Walking Through the Benny Carter Exhibit37:27 | Benny Carter’s Origin Poem42:03 | Wrapping Up Before FishersvilleDo you know a folk artist or have a picking story worth sharing? Reach out to the show:houseoffolkart@gmail.com(919) 410-8002Leave your name and where you are from and you might hear yourself on a future episode.Follow @houseoffolkart for more stories, field trips, and upcoming auction dates at LedbetterAuctions.com.
Transcribe →Episode 55 | Riding Out to Liberty with Matt Ledbetter
4w ago00:48:42Tap to summarizeMatt Ledbetter sits down before heading out to Liberty, North Carolina to set up Wade's tent for the last Liberty Antique show.Held twice a year in Randolph County, the Liberty Antiques Festival has long been one of the best known antique shows in the region. Dealers from more than 25 states set up across a large farm setting, with everything from pottery, furniture, and quilts to decoys, folk art, glass, and country Americana. The show has built its reputation around original antiques and collectibles rather than crafts or reproductions.For Matt and his family, Liberty has been a major part of life for years. In this episode, he looks back on some of the pieces he found there over the past decade, tells the stories behind them, and talks through why Liberty has meant so much to him as a dealer, picker, and collector. As setup day approaches, the conversation becomes a mix of memories, strategy, and anticipation for what might still turn up.Matt starts with one of his most memorable pottery finds, a Chester Webster school jug he spotted at a yard sale just outside the show grounds. From there, he moves through a group of past Liberty finds including a carved walking stick, a painted stand, a painted basket, Benny Carter paintings, and a Ward Brothers decoy, using each one to explain what caught his eye and why some things stay in the collection while others go back into the market.If you are interested in antiques, folk art, Southern pottery, or just want to hear how a longtime picker thinks before a big show, this episode gives a clear look at what Liberty means to the people who have spent years setting up, buying, and coming back every season.Chapters00:00 | Van Side Before the Final Liberty Antiques Festival02:53 | The Webster School Jug Story09:45 | A Walking Stick from Liberty11:39 | The Painted Stand and Basket15:39 | Benny Carter Paintings and Liberty Memories20:44 | A Ward Brothers Decoy and Learning New Categories26:31 | Should We Buy Every Decoy Tomorrow?30:53 | What Matt Hopes to Find at Liberty42:14 | Looking Ahead to Fishersville44:36 | Packing Up and Heading to Liberty45:25 | Picking Up Ethan and Driving to Set Up46:38 | Arriving at Liberty and Finding the Webster Jug Yard Sale47:50 | Wrapping the Day Before the ShowDo you know a folk artist or have a picking story worth sharing? Reach out to the show:houseoffolkart@gmail.com(919) 410-8002Leave your name and where you are from and you might hear yourself on a future episode.Follow @houseoffolkart for more stories, field trips, and upcoming auction dates at LedbetterAuctions.com.Next week, we’ll release the full Liberty walkthrough, showing the setup, the hunt, and what turns up once the show gets going.
Transcribe →Episode 54 | What Matt Bought at the Catawba Valley Pottery Festival
Apr 1300:38:28Tap to summarizeMatt Ledbetter and Kyle sit down with a table full of pieces from the Catawba Valley Pottery Festival and break down what they picked up over the weekend.Held once a year in Hickory, North Carolina, the Catawba Valley Pottery Festival brings together over a hundred working potters alongside a small group of dealers specializing in historic Catawba Valley pottery. It is one of the few places where you can walk booth to booth, meet the artists directly, and see both contemporary work and pieces rooted in a tradition that goes back generations.Matt talks through how the weekend actually plays out. The Friday night preview, the rush when doors open, and how fast things move when collectors are lined up for specific makers. From there, they bring a group of pieces to the table and walk through what they picked up. Face jugs, monkey jugs, and functional forms all come into the conversation, along with what to look for in Catawba Valley pottery. Alkaline glaze, form, and firing methods all start to separate stronger pieces from the rest.If you are interested in Southern pottery, collecting, or just want to understand why people travel for this show every year, this episode gives a clear look at what makes the Catawba Valley Pottery Festival stand out.Chapters00:00 | Recapping the Catawba Valley Pottery Festival00:06:33 | What They Look for in Catawba Valley Pottery00:10:48 | Why This Is an Important Pottery Show00:12:36 | First Look at Matt’s Stacey Lambert Pieces00:15:32 | The Steve Abee Monkey Jug00:19:23 | Meeting Marvin Bailey00:24:17 | Supporting Living Potters00:31:00 | What Makes a Piece Worth Buying00:36:30 | Final Thoughts on the FestivalDo you know a folk artist or have a picking story worth sharing? Reach out to the show:houseoffolkart@gmail.com(919) 410-8002Leave your name and where you are from and you might hear yourself on a future episode.Follow @houseoffolkart for more stories, field trips, and upcoming auction dates at LedbetterAuctions.com.Next week, we’ll release the full walkthrough from the floor, showing how these pieces were found and bought in real time.
Transcribe →Episode 53 | 10 Picks Inside a 15,000 Sq Ft Folk Art Warehouse
Mar 3001:04:08Tap to summarizeIn this episode of House of Folk Art, Matt Ledbetter and Kyle walk through the newly expanded Ledbetter warehouse and put it to use right away. With over 15,000 square feet of material to dig through, they each pick out five pieces and bring them back to the table to break down what they are seeing, what stands out, and why certain objects hold more weight than others.The episode starts inside the warehouse, moving through shelves, stacks, and walls of material as they search for pieces that feel like real folk art. There is no category restriction. Carvings, metalwork, furniture, and overlooked objects are all on the table. What matters is instinct. What catches your eye, what holds up when you look closer, and what actually feels like it came from the hand of the maker.Once the picks are laid out, the conversation shifts into how collectors think. Matt and Kyle get into the difference between craft and folk art, how repetition and time factor into that line, and why certain pieces that might get passed over at first glance start to reveal something deeper. A small chair made from cut Coca Cola cans turns into a longer discussion about unknown makers, production, and how entire bodies of work can exist just under the surface without much documentation.Throughout the episode, the focus stays on the objects themselves. How they were made, where they might have come from, and how you start to recognize patterns across collections. There is also a look at how pieces from the same maker can surface over time, and how one labeled example can help connect a much larger group of work.In the back half, the episode opens up beyond the table with additional pieces and context pulled from the warehouse, including a few surprises that extend the conversation beyond the original ten picks. There is also rare footage of Carl Otto Long worked into the episode, adding another layer to the discussion around makers, documentation, and how these artists are remembered.If you are interested in how collectors actually look at objects, how taste develops over time, and what it feels like to sort through a warehouse full of material, this episode gives a clear look at that process.Chapters00:00 | Inside the New 15,000 Sq Ft Warehouse00:01:45 | First Pick: The Coke Can Chair00:07:30 | The Maker, Repetition, and the Collection00:12:30 | When Craft Becomes Folk Art00:15:42 | The Carl Otto Story00:20:00 | Looking at the Next Picks00:28:00 | What Makes Something Stand Out00:36:00 | When Pieces Start Connecting00:44:36 | One Object Doesn’t Make Sense Alone00:52:00 | Expanding the Collection00:59:45 | Final Pieces and Closing ThoughtsDo you know a folk artist or have a picking story worth sharing? Reach out to the show:houseoffolkart@gmail.com(919) 410 8002Leave your name and where you are from and you might hear yourself on a future episode.Follow @houseoffolkart for more stories, field trips, and upcoming auction dates at LedbetterAuctions.com.
Transcribe →Episode 52 | Are Quilts Folk Art? Collecting Antique American Quilts with Laura Saville
Mar 1601:34:09Tap to summarizeIn this episode of House of Folk Art, Matt Ledbetter sits down with longtime friend and antique dealer Laura Saville for a full conversation on antique American quilts, how to look at them, how to date them, and why more collectors are starting to take them seriously as both historical objects and pieces of art.Laura talks about falling headfirst into quilts over the last several months, studying fabrics, construction, and textile history, and learning how quilts connect to antique clothing, regional taste, and daily life in America. Matt brings in the picking side of it too, explaining how common quilts once were in Southern households, how they were stored, and why dealers used to bring stacks of them back from house calls and auctions.Together, Matt and Laura get into the practical side of collecting. They talk about mothball smell and why it does not always mean a textile is ruined, how long quilts actually take to make, the difference between quilts and coverlets, early whole cloth examples, hand stitching versus machine stitching, crazy quilts, Victorian era patterns, Gee’s Bend, what makes one quilt worth sixty dollars and another worth thousands, and how personal taste shapes what collectors chase.In the back half of the episode, the conversation opens up into a warehouse walkthrough as Matt and Laura start pulling and discussing many different quilts in person. They look at fabric, stitching, pattern names, dating clues, collector categories, African American quilt interest, Double Wedding Ring quilts, and the kind of instinct that starts to develop when you’ve handled enough material. The episode ends with practical advice on how to choose a quilt when you are standing at a show and trying to decide what is actually worth buying.If you are curious about quilts as folk art, textile history, or the real world of buying antique quilts, this is one of the most useful episodes House of Folk Art has done on the subject.Chapters00:00 | Laura’s Deep Dive Into Quilts01:15 | Dating Quilts Through Clothing and Fabric02:13 | How Many Quilts Were in a Household03:00 | Trunks, Attics, and How Quilts Survived05:30 | Mothballs and Getting the Smell Out05:47 | How Long Does It Take to Make a Quilt06:33 | Were Quilts in Early America08:30 | Coverlets, Whole Cloth Quilts, and Early Textiles11:05 | Hand Stitching vs Machine Stitching12:40 | What Makes a Good Country Quilt13:30 | Crazy Quilts and the Victorian Era15:00 | Quilts Inside Quilts and Picking Stories16:40 | Where All Those Quilts Ended Up17:00 | Quilt Racks and How They Were Used17:55 | Gee’s Bend and Quilts Entering the Art World20:40 | Why Quilts Read Like Art at Auction22:30 | What Makes One Quilt Worth More Than Another24:20 | Colonial Revival Quilts and 1930s Patterns25:30 | New York Beauty and Reading Old Fabric26:30 | Utilitarian Quilts vs Decorative Quilts27:30 | Learning Quilts as an Independent Researcher28:00 | What Should You Buy at an Antique Show38:00 | Moving Into the Warehouse Walkthrough52:00 | Looking at Quilts in Person1:05:00 | African American Quilt Collector Interest1:10:00 | Double Wedding Ring and Pattern Recognition1:20:49 | Deep Dive Into Collector Categories1:27:28 | Final Buying Advice for Quilt CollectorsLaura Saville is based in North Carolina and maintains a full time booth at The Antique Marketplace in Greensboro: 6428 Burnt Poplar RdGreensboro, NC 27409Laura’s main booth is the first booth to the left behind the counter.Laura also regularly sets up at regional antiques shows, including:Tarheel Antiques FestivalApril 10–11, 2026226 North Lloyd’s Dairy RdEfland, NC 27243Liberty Antique FestivalApril 24–25, 20262855 Pike Farm RdStaley, NC 27355Laura’s booth: M5Fishersville Antiques ExpoMay 8–9, 2026227 Expo RdFishersville, VA 22939Inside the first buildingDo you know a folk artist or have a picking story worth sharing? Reach out to the show:houseoffolkart@gmail.com(919) 410 8002Leave your name and where you are from and you might hear yourself on a future episode.Follow @houseoffolkart for more stories, adventures, and upcoming auction dates at LedbetterAuctions.com.
Transcribe →Episode 51 | Mary Proctor: Called to Paint
Mar 201:06:13Tap to summarizeIn January of 1994, Mary Proctor lost her grandmother, her uncle, and her aunt in a mobile home fire. The grandmother who raised her, the woman she called mama, was gone. The grief was overwhelming. For thirty days, Mary spent half of every day praying, sitting with her Bible, questioning God and asking why.On the final day, she says a light brighter than the sun appeared, and a voice spoke from within it. She was told to paint on an old door, and that the words would be given to her. In that moment, grief turned into direction. What began as prayer became purpose.Painting became her calling.From that first door forward, Mary’s work carried a message. Scripture, testimony, warnings, hope. Not just decoration, but instruction. Her art became a spiritual language, a way to awaken the soul, to remind people how to live, how to forgive, how to prepare, how to believe.She did not simply start painting. She stepped into a mission and became Missionary Mary. That moment marked the beginning of her life as an artist.In this episode of House of Folk Art, Matt Ledbetter travels to Florida to sit down with Mary Proctor, also known as Missionary Mary, to talk about the calling behind her work. They discuss her childhood, the meaning of her name, the influence of her grandmother, and how faith and memory became painted onto salvaged doors and found materials.Mary walks through specific works in her yard, including pieces that reference her baptism, scripture, and family history. The conversation moves between humor and testimony, art and belief, ending with the story of how loss became purpose and paint became ministry.CHAPTERS00:00 | We’re at Mary Proctor’s and We’re Not Leaving02:02 | Who Is Mary Proctor and Why She Paints06:33 | Taking Mary’s Work to Auction09:36 | Paint or Die12:01 | The Famous Painted Doors and Amazing Grace14:27 | Bird Man, Bird Omen, and Trusting God18:52 | Why Mary Doesn’t Paint Snakes22:13 | Let Grace Grow37:54 | God Loves Folk Art47:48 | Turning Pain Into Purpose01:02:09 | The Vision of Light and the First Painted DoorDo you know a folk artist or have a picking story worth sharing? Leave your name and where you are from and you might hear yourself on a future episode.houseoffolkart@gmail.com(919) 410 8002Follow @houseoffolkart for more stories, trips, and upcoming auction dates at LedbetterAuctions.com.
Transcribe →Episode 50 | Rare 1990s Folk Art Footage from Tom Wells
Feb 1600:52:19Tap to summarizeBefore museums and collectors caught on, Tom Wells was documenting Southern folk artists on VHS in the early 1990s.In this episode, Matt Ledbetter sits down with the longtime dealer to revisit those tapes and reflect on discovering artists like Z.B. Armstrong and J.T. McCord.Tom explains how he first met these artists, how relationships developed, how work was sold, and what it looked like to build a market without the internet, price databases, or collector forums. Some of the footage captures artists actively working. The footage captures artists at work and preserves moments from an important era for folk art. CHAPTERS00:00 | Meeting Tom Wells in Thomson, Georgia01:39 | First encounter with Z.B. Armstrong08:24 | National exposure and Southern Magazine12:19 | Jake J.T. McCord on his front porch18:46 | Finding Ralph Griffin off a dirt road27:09 | Jimmy Lee Sudduth and painting with mud37:21 | Leonard Jones and painted tin42:21 | Discovering Willie Tarver46:45 | Meeting Richard RoebuckDo you know a folk artist or have a picking story worth sharing? Leave your name and where you are from and you might hear yourself on a future episode.houseoffolkart@gmail.com(919) 410 8002Follow @houseoffolkart for more stories, field trips, and upcoming auction dates at LedbetterAuctions.com.
Transcribe →Episode 49 | From Football to Folk Art
Feb 200:48:19Tap to summarizeMatt Ledbetter talks with Julian-Sherrod Summers, also known as Red Sanford, about how their shared background in football quietly ran alongside a growing interest in old objects, self-taught artists, and the stories those pieces carry.From there, the conversation opens up into picking, collecting, valuing art, and the long road that led both of them into the folk art world.The conversation moves naturally between football culture, folk art discovery, picking, and the shared duality of living in both physical, competitive worlds and thoughtful, creative ones. Along the way, they talk candidly about how folk art is valued, how artists are discovered, the risks of the art world, and why certain work deserves to be preserved before it disappears.From flea market finds and auction stories to conversations about Black self-taught artists, access, and preservation, this episode moves beyond collecting into questions of visibility, value, and who gets remembered in the art world.Chapters00:00 | From Football to folk art03:47 | The folk art table that changed everything07:25 | Why folk art has no fixed value11:40 | Selling a Basquiat and pushing outside the art world 18:22 | When art starts to own you23:57 | Selling a Monet and trusting experience25:58 | Why folk art is not a get rich quick game29:40 | Black self-taught artists and preservation32:01 | Football toughness and artistic sensitivity38:53 | Cultivating personal collections and living with art41:19 | Lost houses, lost art, and what can still be savedThis conversation moves between football, folk art, and collecting, before turning toward questions of value, access, and preservation, particularly around Black self-taught artists and the environments that shaped their work.Do you know a folk artist or have a picking story worth sharing?Leave your name and where you’re from and you might hear yourself on a future episode.houseoffolkart@gmail.com(919) 410 8002Follow @houseoffolkart for more conversations, field trips, and upcoming auction dates at LedbetterAuctions.com.
Transcribe →Episode 48 | What Real Picking Looked Like Before the Internet
Jan 1900:50:18Tap to summarizeIn this episode, Wade Ledbetter sits down with Matt to talk through what real picking looked like before the internet changed the landscape. Long before Marketplace listings and phone searches, picking meant driving back roads, knocking on doors, carrying cash, and trusting instinct.Wade tells the story of calling a jug before it ever came out of the house, walking into basements unannounced, and knowing what mattered before it was labeled, cataloged, or priced. The conversation moves through door knock etiquette, cash strategy, reading people, reading places, and the difference between chasing leads and creating opportunities.From North Carolina back roads to out of state picking runs, police encounters, and lessons learned the hard way, this episode documents a style of picking that relied on preparation, nerve, and experience rather than screens.00:00 | Welcoming Wade Ledbetter back01:23 | Introducing the bottle stretcher03:29 | Beginning the Asheboro door knock story09:22 | Showing the jug in Bill Ivey’s office16:32 | What a door knock picker really is19:46 | The Salisbury basement door knock23:49 | Advice for new pickers27:12 | Business cards and contact strategy29:47 | Getting pulled over while picking35:08 | Picking before American Pickers41:05 | Finding and buying a Model T44:59 | Why back doors matter more than front doors46:08 | Final advice for door knock pickersThis conversation documents a way of picking that existed long before online listings and instant access. Door knocking, carrying cash, reading people, and learning through experience shaped how objects moved from homes to collections. Episode 48 preserves that perspective and the lessons that came with it.Do you know a folk artist or have a picking story worth sharing? Leave your name and where you are from and you might hear yourself on a future episode.houseoffolkart@gmail.com(919) 410 8002Follow @houseoffolkart for more stories, field trips, and upcoming auction dates at LedbetterAuctions.com.
Transcribe →Episode 47 | Always Buying Always Selling: Life as a Full-Time Antique Dealer with Laura Saville
Jan 501:17:13Tap to summarizeIn this episode of House of Folk Art, Matt Ledbetter sits down with longtime friend and full-time antique dealer Laura Saville for a wide-ranging, honest conversation about what it really means to make a living in antiques.Laura has spends all her time buying, selling, filling booths, working shows, and constantly moving inventory. Inspired by early memories of her grandfather’s Milwaukee saloon to a career at Nordstrom that sharpened her eye for curation and merchandising, Laura explains how every chapter of her life quietly prepared her for this work.Together, Matt and Laura talk about the rhythm of the antiques business, the reality of selling full time, how dealers decide what to hold and what to let go, and why shows like Liberty feel so special. They also reflect on how the trade is changing, why younger dealers are entering the field, and why it is never too late to start if you truly love it.This episode is part storytelling, part shop talk, and part encouragement for anyone curious about life as a full-time antique dealer.Chapters00:00 | Introducing Laura Saville 02:20 | Knowing Each Other Through Shows and the Trade05:50 | Always Buying Always Selling09:40 | Filling Booths and Keeping Inventory Moving13:25 | No Antiques Growing Up, Except Grandpa17:45 | Grandpa's Milwaukee Saloon and the Worner Bottle 22:10 | From Nordstrom to Full-Time Antique Dealer26:30 | Curating, Presentation, and Retail Instincts31:10 | What to Sell, What to Hold Back35:40 | Liberty, Shows, and the Energy of the Field40:05 | Is Being an Antique Dealer Still a Job44:30 | Younger Dealers and Finding Your Way In49:20 | It’s Never Too Late to Go Full Time53:30 | Closing Thoughts on Loving the WorkWhere to Find Laura SavilleLaura Saville is based in North Carolina. You can find her regular booth at The Antique Marketplace, located at 6428 Burnt Poplar Rd, Greensboro, NC 27409. Laura’s booth is the first booth to the left behind the counter.More information: https://antiquemarketplacegso.comLaura also regularly sets up at regional antiques shows, including:The Tarheel Antiques FestivalApril 10–11, 2026226 North Lloyd’s Dairy Rd, Efland, NC 27243https://www.tarheelantiquesfestival.comLiberty Antique FestivalApril 24–25, 2026 (final Liberty show)2855 Pike Farm Rd, Staley, NC 27355Laura’s booth: M5https://www.libertyantiquesfestival.comFishersville Antiques ExpoMay 8–9, 2026227 Expo Rd, Fishersville, VA 22939Inside the first buildinghttps://www.heritagepromotions.netDo you know a folk artist or have a picking story worth sharing? Reach out to the show:houseoffolkart@gmail.com(919) 410 8002Leave your name and where you are from and you might hear yourself on a future episode.Follow @houseoffolkart for more stories, adventures, and upcoming auction dates at LedbetterAuctions.com.
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