Did you ever wonder the story behind those paintings on slices of wood which are essential for a rustic cabin in the woods? Brother to the saw paintings, and sister to the slate paintings for sale in Jackson Square, New Orleans? Here's the guy! It's AL MOHLER and his wooden slab paintings!
If you follow this blog (gosh…6 years now) you know I love to elevate the lesser to the greater. So let's look at the king of the knotty pine painters! He picked an unusual medium, but he used it half-a century and created a serious body of work.
A Minnesota master, like most folk art painters Al painted on anything, but the most familiar are the oval shaped pieces of pine. He would paint animals for the most part. The bigger the better, and the Al Mohler tribute site mentions a painting of a bear on a slab 39 inches across! THAT is a big slice of tree. He did small ones too, and the little one here shows the reverse. Look for the authentic Al Mohler studio stamp. His career lasted over 50 years.
There is a creepy, right wing evangelist named Albert Mohler spreading ignorant venom around the south currently…needless to say that ain't the guy. I am going to guess the Al Mohler we are interested in here was a wonderful man who loved everyone and brought considerable joy into the world with his paintings.
Mohler sold his paintings from the little studio with the big sign shown in my photo above! I am hoping the photo is worth more than his paintings, but I doubt it. They are collected, and it seems every one on ebay sells.
The go to guy for Al Mohler paintings is Kirk Schnitker who runs the Al Mohler Art site from which I took the lovely logo here. He will do appraisals, may from time to time have work for sale and is documenting the work. Check out his site HERE.
Original photograph of Al Mohler and his studio Collection Jim Linderman
Books and Ebooks by Jim Linderman are available HERE
