Gwinnett Daily Post

BUFORD -- On Saturday and Sunday, 1,500 pieces of folk art are up for sale at the biannual Slotin Folk Art Auction in the Historic Buford Hall.

"The great thing about our auction is that we have the 'who's who' for self-taught art," Steve Slotin, auction leader said. "You'd have to drive around the country for years to see everything we have at our auction. It's the whole rainbow of folk art, self-taught art and anonymous art. It's the only auction like this in the whole world."

Throughout the year, Slotin seeks, gathers and collects folk art from anywhere he can, including donations from people, those who are downsizing or when art museums are changing displays. It can take months to get everything delivered to Slotin, have the pieces photographed and catalogued for the auction.

"The funny thing is because I can pick up all the pieces, photograph them and pick out the 'best of the best' that I discovered that I have a heavy hand in what you see," he said.

Slotin may know what's up for sale, but he and his people are ready for the flood gate to open as bidding starts.

"It's wild and you never know what prices are going to go for, but you know what pieces will be there," he said.

Collectors can look through the online catalogue created by Slotin. On Saturday, the bidding starts with piece No. 1 and proceeds in order, so people know what is next up.

"Folk art is a Southern phenomenon," Slotin said. "This is the one art form that is in our backyard, easy to collect and easy to display in your house. It's not as expensive as impressionist or Native American art can be because all of those pieces have been collected. You can start collecting art that is museum quality and because it's Southern and regional, it's a wonderful thing to keep."

Lots 1 to 825 are on sale Saturday while lots 826 to 1,500 are on the auction block Sunday. Phone, absentee and online bidding available.