"Junk Fish" by Steven Meadows, Third Place in Artist Boat 2022 Marine Debris Art Contest

"Junk Fish" by Steven Meadows

Third Place in Artist Boat 2022 Marine Debris Art Contest

2.5 feet wide x 2 feet tall

Offbeat art: Steve Meadows of Palestine has a passion for folk art

Steve Meadows of Palestine, Ill., grew up in the tiny southern Illinois town of Willow Hill. The schools he attended did not teach art and the people he knew rarely if ever talked about it. “Until I was 12, I thought an artist was somebody who was dead and gone,” said Meadows.

That year, probably because of TV, Meadows’ attention was attracted by the offbeat art and life of the Pablo Picasso, the internationally acclaimed Spanish artist.

Says Emma Lee Turney, whose renowned Houston-area Round Top Folk Art Fair and Creative Market draws thousands to each of its three annual Texas events, “Steve is absolutely one of the best, if not the best, folk artists in America. His birds look like they could take flight and his alligators like they could take a bite.”

Meadows’ 1990s artwork quickly caught the attention of visitors to folk art shows where his work was displayed. People encouraged him to try wholesaling his work, so he began making wooden prototypes of animals and birds, plus bird houses, lighthouses, sailboats, Santas and Christmas ornaments for shows where the attendees were wholesale buyers.

• Name : Syeven Meadows