Folk artist's palette is bright, light, and homespun

EAST SHIP HARBOUR, Nova Scotia - It's easy to find Barry Colpitts's home gallery.

Folk art adorns the house, lawn, barn, shed, fence, car, even the mailbox and truck. His hand-carved, two- and three-dimensional birds and fish, saints and sinners, mermaids and fishermen populate nearly every available surface. Even shutters, trim, railings, and newel posts have been transformed into works of art, all in bold colors using shiny boat paint.

"Bright colors make me feel good. Nothing else looks right," he says. Even on a dreary day, his house can coax a smile.

Colpitts's religious convictions are evident in his use of angels and crosses and his whimsical interpretation of the seven deadly sins: yelling all the time, wanting other people's stuff, eating too much, looking too hard at someone else's wife. Even the oxen on his small farm are blessed with yokes accented with religious icons.

"Most of the stuff on the house is people I know," Colpitts says, pointing out a neighbor girl, various relatives, and Uncle Bob.

"Rub his head to help quit smoking," Colpitts says as he gestures toward the carving. "Uncle Bob was a heavy smoker, and his likeness had a cigarette dangling from his mouth. It broke off with an icicle, and Uncle Bob quit smoking at the same time."

Colpitts is never short on ideas for creating new pieces for the house or to sell in his shop.

"The longer I do it, the quicker they come, and the less good I am for anything else," he says. "Folk art is like the loaves and fishes; it keeps coming and coming."

Barry Colpitts, No. 15359 Highway 7, 902-772-2090.

HILARY NANGLE