John Chamblin’s art has always been more on the outside of the commercial art scene. According to fellow artists, he always painted from his heart and focused on subjects that were important to him whether they inspired others or not.

“He was anything but a commercial artist or tourist artist. He only painted from what was on his heart,” said friend and fellow artist Fred Marchman. “His work, it’s what you would call outsider art. It’s sometimes called primitive or folk art and it’s a very pure kind of art.”

Marchman said that Chamblin, 72, worked primarily with acrylic paint on canvas. This was his medium of choice to showcase his unique art style. According to Marchman, most of Chamblin’s work was not realistic but he worked in a few different styles. His art subjects varied and included social, political and religious subjects, female nudes, aliens, UFOs, the universe, personal symbolism and more.

“He chooses to focus on what he intuits as the truth,” Marchman said.

His work is not suited to all tastes and has been shown periodically in the area over the years. Chamblin was not one to promote his own work, but his art has been shown at various places in the Eastern Shore and in the Cathedral Square Gallery in Mobile. His work has also been shown alongside the Midtown Misfits at various locations in Mobile.

Over the past few years, Chamblin, who lived most of his life in Mobile, has not painted as much recently due to health concerns. He has since been moved into a nursing home facility in Foley.

Because of this and the size of his collection and some of the pieces, his art has been in a storage unit and funds are limited. To help out, a show of Chamblin’s work was put on by the Mobile Arts Council in late February with his pieces available for purchase.

“This was the biggest and most successful show he’s ever had; it’s a pity that he wasn’t there,” Marchman said. “This is his last hoorah.”

According to Chamblin’s daughter, Cherokee, 25 of the 93 pieces in the show sold and raised significant funds to help him out.

In all, she said there are more than 150 pieces in his collection, some dating back to the 1960s, and they hope to get the work into more shows and to sell some, when possible.

“Selling them is more of a thing to give him respect and recognize him and get them out there because there’s not going to be anymore painted,” Cherokee said.

According to Chamblin’s daughter, painting was his life and part of his nightly routine. He worked at Van’s Photo for approximately 30 years, but that was just to get by and pay his bills. He loved his art.

“From the stories I’ve been told from his family and friends, he has always been into art, always been interested in it and he’s done it,” she said. As she likes to say, “John Chamblin was a very eccentric and unique artist.”

Marchman agrees; “I think his work is very deep, very spiritual and even profoundly poetic and even prophetic.”

He’s been promoting his friend’s unique style for years and hopes he can continue to do so with more shows and opportunities.