Welcome
Linda Darlene Mae Allen was born in Marshall, North Carolina and grew up in Madison County, North Carolina. She was the youngest daughter of one of Madison County's treasures, Howard Allen, who owned a well-known junk yard that sat on either side of Highway 25/70 between Brush Creek and Walnut.
While Allen's father was a junk man and rescuer of vehicles that would periodically careen into the ravines along the county's serpentine roadways, he was also an artist-- one who taught Linda the value of perspective. As a small child, Linda would go out with her father when his wrecker would be needed to retrieve folks and vehicles from a variety of predicaments. They were both dreamers, seeing the world in unique colors and shapes. They both loved to help others, learn about people, and express themselves creatively. Much of Linda's work today reflects the time she spent as a child in and around the junk yard and surrounding pastoral countryside.
Linda has always been told she has a gift of expression, to create art, to take something ordinary and look at it in an extraordinary way. She paints on a variety of canvasses, in oil and acrylics. Her subject matter ranges from objects to people, to personified animals, her themes range from decay's beauty to the brilliance of new life. Linda is a visionary and her art a song of her long-sought independence and yearning for peace.
Linda's work reflects back to simpler times-- in our country and in her own life. It is elegant, simple, whimsical at times, and decidedly Appalachian. Contact Linda about a specific piece you see in the gallery or for any opportunities for commissioned work.