 FOLK ART LOVER: Patti Durkee fell in love with Nova Scotia folk art during a 2003 trip and decided to share her passion with Toronto.
It's not in her backyard, though. It's part of the North York resident's folk art collection. The outhouse in question is a woodcarving of a man sitting on the john with his pants around his ankles.
Durkee sells contemporary folk art from Nova Scotia through her From the Heart Folk Art business.
The work is a huge stress reliever, she says.
"I like to have fun," Durkee says. "You should surround yourself with happy things."
A part-time grade 5 teacher with the Toronto District School Board, Durkee says art dealing is a refreshing change for her as she gets to work with adults instead of kids. But she still does a lot of educating about what folk art is.
She describes folk art as a "naive" form of art because folk artists generally have no formal training and normally get into it as a hobby.
Though she says it's difficult to isolate the movement's characteristics, woodcarvings — like her outhouse — are popular. Whimsical animal carvings — especially of birds — and seascapes are typical Maritime folk art fare these days.
Durkee says the new breed of folk artists is using finer details and bolder colours than preceding generations, many members of which often depicted oxen, old farm equipment and horses.
Though she admits it's not for every one — you either love it or hate it, she says — folk art can have an uplifting effect.
At art shows, Durkee doesn't seem to get sour looks from people. "They may not come in my booth but they always smile."
Durkee recalls one customer who bought a considerable amount of art from her. She later discovered that the woman's husband had been very ill. The woman told Durkee she bought as much as she did because she needed a lift.
"It gave her a reason to smile," Durkee says.
Folk art makes the process of buying art more approachable, she adds, as it's not as big an investment. People can spend as little as $30 on a piece, or they could invest thousands of dollars, she says.
But, Durkee says, if people want an investment piece, they can target particular artists. In the world of folk art, artists don’t need to be dead to be popular. Three artists Durkee represents, the Naugler brothers, typically sell out in 15 minutes at shows, she says.
The Nova Scotia-born Durkee got into the business after discovering a folk artist in a flea market during a 2003 visit back home. She says she fell in love with the whimsical pieces.
A year later, at the 20th annual Nova Scotia Folk Art Festival, she bought more folk art. If she loved folk art this much, Durkee recalls telling her husband on the drive home to Toronto, then perhaps others did too.
That's when From the Heart was born. Durkee now represents 50 artists, selling their wares from her home, through her website www.fromtheheartfolkart.com, and at various collectibles shows.
"My whole house is full of folk," she says. "It's everywhere."
Durkee has just bought a summer home in Nova Scotia and plans to bring half her collection there in the future. She's also got designs on opening a seasonal gallery there.
You can check out Durkee's offerings May 10 at Flik and Company Interiors in Toronto or at the Christie Antique and Collectible show in Dundas, on May 24.
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