With a family reaching back to slavery I have always considerwd Sam Doyle as nw of the the most important self taught artist we had. Sam was from St. Helena Island, South Carolina, and his vivid yard painting remember the Gullah African-American culture and community he lived in. He displayed his paintings—created on discarded materials like metal roofing and wood—in the yard of his home, which he dubbed the "St. Helena Out Door Art Gallery".
Doyle's art is deeply intertwined with the Gullah culture of the Sea Islands, where relative isolation made it important to remember the descendants of enslaved Africans and preserved many their West and Central African traditions. Doyle blended Gullah lore and his devout Baptist faith in his work, depicting both Christian iconography and figures from African folklore and spiritual traditions. It was oral history painted on scrap tin. I collected many…but have never posted them all at one time. The South Carolina low country allowed slaves to retain their identity. I collected as many as I could find (and afford) for en years,
Sam Doyle Paintings 1975 to early 1980s. Dull Tool Dim Bulb Archives.
