A roadside sign advising "Beware of Smiling Dogs" is just one reason you know you have arrived at the yard, home, studio, gallery and church of Floria Yancey. There is the painting of the huge-eyed cats on the front of what could be a produce stand. There are brightly painted plywood totems, some flat people with sculpted heads, an extremely multicolored possible antelope. And all around are scriptural warnings and messages painted on plywood panels mounted on fence posts. Yes, of course there is also the sign with the Kilroy-looking character whose eyes light up that says "Floria's Folk Art Gallery". Honestly, it might not be the first thing you notice.
So now that you're smiling and wondering, meet the artist behind it all. Under her signature flowered hat, Floria Yancey had a face that could calm an ocean. The sixteenth child of an eighteen-child family of sharecroppers, Floria's childhood dream of going to art school was just not in the cards. So she grew up and went to work earning a living & raising a family. When health problems caused her to leave her job, she unexpectedly had time for art. She taught herself to paint and never looked back. Her artistic inspiration came from her family heritage, her childhood memories, her faith, and her wild imagination.
Floria Yancey passed away on 12/8/21, at the age of 70.