Ada Douglas is a 73-year-old self-taught folk artist who is gaining rising popularity in the art world. Ada, known for her distinct personality and no-nonsense style, is a well-known and loved denizen in her native Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Not only can her work be seen in the homes and businesses of locals, but it has steadily been spreading to the walls of visitors who travel from afar. She lives with her husband Cecil in the mountains and spends as much time as she can in her studio bringing the beautiful and authentic visions in her head to life.

Ada’s self-termed “stick-built art”, which encompasses barns, water wheels, churches and more, is three-dimensional art which uses centuries-old barn wood in the frames and in the paintings. Each one-of-a-kind piece of work is created with artistry and vision, and her renderings of structures which have been in the mountains for centuries evoke a feeling of timelessness, beauty and serenity.

Ada was born and raised in the mountains and had no plumbing or electricity until she was a teenager. She helped her Daddy haul ten-gallon milk jugs, cut and stack bales of hay, and build hanging bridges. She always had an artist’s soul but life circumstances forced her to work in factories, make biscuits at Hardee’s, and raise her kids until she finally pursued her calling at the age of 55 and created her first barn. She has been creating her own brand of outsider art ever since.