At 82 years of age, Bill found himself in Montgomery, Alabama without a job or a place to live. He became friends with the owner of a funeral home who allowed him to sleep between the caskets in a back room. During the day you could find him sitting and drawing in a doorway on Monroe Street.

This remarkable man, now in his eighties, decided to draw - to record his life - using the back of old cardboard boxes as his canvas. He didn't mind the surface, he just allowed the uneven edges and smudges to become part of the picture. Using colored pencils, crayons and charcoal sticks, Bill drew with a vengeance. He had no formal training of any kind (a friend taught him how to sign his name), yet this remarkable man created his memoirs - a visual story of his life - with the simplest of tools. In a span of three years Bill produced no less than 1500 drawings - all of them stories depicting life around him, first from the farm and then from the streets in Montgomery. His unique way of observing others, provided the inspiration for creating a body of work which placed Traylor among the early pioneers of African American folk art.

He made new friends in his very visible doorway location. One friendship with Charles Shannon, a young white artist and photographer, lasted for the rest of his life. It is thanks to Shannon's support that Traylor's work was preserved, for it was he who arranged some exhibitions of this man's folk art.

Bill Traylor died October 23, 1949. He was 93 years old.

Bill Traylor left us with a immense pictorial memoir and we are all enriched by the preservation of his creations.

Resources:

• Folk Art Articles