Art is traditionally viewed as the most precise of disciplines. By learning from the masters, both past and present, one evolves his craft to the point that his work becomes significant in the eyes of his peers.

Visionary art turns the tables. Also called primitive art, naïve art, and folk art, it is a self-taught discipline. There is no emphasis on formal training. And the visionary artist does not plan his or her work; rather, the work comes to him.

Vicki Stone is one such visionary artist. Images come to her when she least expects them, and she feels compelled to create paintings even though she has little formal art training.

Along with other visionary artists, Vicki doesn’t confine herself to a rectangular canvas or traditional paints in a tube. Instead, painting on pieces of wood, she uses all sorts of objects to embellish her creations: beads, twigs and leaves, buttons, ancient shards from Israel, pieces of jewelry.

“I like using a lot of stuff,” she says. “I use everything but the kitchen sink, and one day I might even use that!”

When you get past the strange concoction of found objects, Vicki’s paintings are bold, filled with the passion of her religion and family life. Almost always they are based on Jewish teachings and Torah. She often incorporates her family members into traditional stories, including one painting in which her baby son appears as Moses in the reeds. And she frequently includes written words as part of the overall painting.

Although Vicki has an enthusiasm for her art, she hasn’t been easily accepted. “When I first tried to find a gallery to represent me, I was turned away by one after another,” she says. “They said my art was too Jewish. I laughed! Jewish is what I am. What do they expect? I’m a Jew. I paint what is in my heart, and my heart is filled with the pleasure, joy, and awe of being a Jewish woman and homemaker. I am what I am.”

Fortunately Vicki persisted in her search, and she is now represented by a major folk art gallery, America Oh, Yes!, in Washington, D.C. She has been featured in the Los Angeles Museum of Crafts and Folk Art and the Bellevue Art Museum in Washington, and in numerous Jewish community centers.

“I think all Jewish homemakers are creative in one way or another, often in many ways,” Vicki explains. “We live creatively. If you live the life of a good Jew, it ensures that you will be a good person for everyone and everything. I celebrate the Holy Days; I love them all. But Jewish homemakers also celebrate life in the way they teach their children and in the way they volunteer in the community. Everyone’s creativity takes a different form. In my case, I make rugs, and I used to do ceramics. I fund-raise for our yeshivos, and I also teach art.

“I believe that anyone can be creative if they are in touch spiritually with their hearts. Sometimes when the heart speaks to you, it can be frightening. It scares some people to see visions or hear voices. But I think these are messages from G-d. We have no cause for fear.”

Vicki has lived in Portland, Oregon, for eighteen years. Born in Chicago forty-nine years ago, she spent most of her childhood in a very Jewish community. Her mother died when she was fifteen, and Vicki took on the responsibilities of cooking and caring for the family.

She met her husband, Jim, a web designer, when she was living in Los Angeles. They have a twelve-year-old son, Ari, and two daughters: Sara Rivkah, who is ten, and four-year-old Shaina Bracha. Vicki’s family is very supportive of her art, and the children often give her ideas.

Although there are not many visionary artists who are Orthodox Jews, Vicki is far from alone in the visionary art world. Hundreds of artists have come to national prominence in the past few years, with the emergence of folk art in America. Long collected in Europe, where the English call it “outsider art” and the French call it “l’art brut,” folk art was for years largely overlooked in the U.S. by major museums and by most art historians. Few considered it a legitimate form of art, and only a handful of people collected it seriously.

But all that has changed. In 1983, the Corcoran Art Gallery in Washington, D.C., held the first major museum exhibit of self-taught artists. It was a sensational and groundbreaking exhibition that caused the art world to rethink self-taught art. Although this exhibition featured only black artists — leading people to believe that folk art was primarily a medium for blacks — it nevertheless paved the way for folk art to move into the mainstream.

Today the Smithsonian has a major collection of work by self-taught artists in its National Museum of American Art. Attendance at, and membership in, the American Folk Art Museum in New York are at an all-time high. The Folk Art Society of America has greatly expanded its membership and educational programs. And scores of books, newsletters, and magazines are devoted to the subject.

Perhaps of greater significance, the American Visionary Art Museum, under the direction of its founder, Rebecca Hoffberger, has opened in Baltimore, Maryland, as the country’s official national museum for self-taught art. AVAM has been chartered by Congress for the sole purpose of exhibiting this form of unadulterated creativity. The museum has created an international sensation with its themed exhibitions. “That’s my aspiration,” says Vicki. “To have my art in the American Visionary Art Museum.” Indeed, the American Folk Art Museum has expressed interest in including her art in future exhibits.

Meanwhile, she continues to paint and to create new images. Yet she has a concern. “In our old house, we were crowded in a small space. I had no place to paint. I would set up right in the middle of the living room on the floor, with my children climbing all over me. It was inspiring. Visions came to me at odd times, even while I was showering or washing my hair. I saw full-blown images of a finished piece of art in my head. It was so clear.

“Since we moved to a new and larger house, the visions don’t come with the same frequency. I don’t know why. They aren’t as vivid. This saddens me. Now mainly the visions come when I am in bed, after I’ve said my evening prayers. Some- times an image appears, yet it is not as complete as in the past. But I sketch what I have. And I have faith that my heart will speak more boldly to me again.” Vicki is pleased that her local rabbi approves of her art. Portland’s Rabbi Moshe Wilhelm (an OK field representative) sees Vicki’s work as doing the work of Judaism.

Vicki asserts that she never thinks of the viewer when she’s creating a work of art. “I don’t do commissions. I don’t create my work for others, or worry what people will say when they see it. I do it for the joy and pleasure it brings me. Perhaps that sounds selfish or self-centered, but I think creativity is about self-expression. Let the chips fall where they may afterwards.” Vicki understands that visionary art is off the beaten path. “I am sure there are people who find my art strange, or who disapprove of it because it doesn’t match their preconceived notions of what art should be. That doesn’t bother me in the least. I’m not looking for approval. I do think that most Jews embrace the art readily. It’s not that we are more open-minded than other people. I just think we are very open-hearted. This is, after all, art from the heart.” There’s certainly nothing abstract about Vicki Stone’s art. It’s bold and explicit. It draws the viewer in, because even the small pieces she does are filled with multiple images and messages. One needs to “study” her art.

Vicki admits she is from the “more is better” school of art. Sometimes her ideas literally jump off the main painting. She creates hands or wings that attach to the painting, and even paints on the back of a piece.

Vicki has a studio at home, but she needs to find more time to paint. She has to squeeze in art time into a full schedule as mother, wife, and community volunteer. Yet she’s not complaining. She knows that a mother’s work is never done. And neither is an artist’s.

Joe Adams is a long-time collector of folk art and one of the country’s leading art dealers. He lives on Hilton Head Island, SC.