Winged Shoe
- Painted wood
- 14 x 25 1/2 x 19 1/2 inches
Horseback Rider
- Painted wood
- 13 1/2 x 4 x 13 1/2 inches
Rabbit with Egg
- Painted wood
- 26 1/4 x 8 x 6 inches
Cat and Mouse
- Painted wood
- 18 x 6 x 17 inches
Cowboy Wearing Feathered Hat
- Painted wood
- 9 x 14 x 3 inches
Fisherman
- Painted wood
- 22 x 6 inches
Cowboy Riding Horse
- Painted wood
- inches
Fish
- Painted wood
- inches
If Marion resident Willard Rust's life story is ever made into a movie, the title could be The Accidental Artist.
Rust, a salesman who retired from Fort Wayne's Mill Supply Co. in 1994, is a hobbyist whose folk art pieces are selling well in Taos, N.M.
Rust, 75, saws wood scraps to make shapes, birdhouses and tables, among other things. He paints the items in bold colors and has even put a face, ears and a tail on tables and made 6-foot tall totem poles with flashing lights. His creations are often whimsical and comic, and they have become hip.
To do well in Taos, a trendy ski resort town with a well-known art community, is an enviable credit for any artist.
Cam Martin, owner of the Dwellings Revisited shop in Taos, is the main distributor of Rust's pieces.
"I've had several folk art collectors in this country buy his things," Martin said. "I've shipped his pieces to Australia, France and England.
"One of his big collectors was an NBC producer who absolutely loved his things. He and his wife had quite a collection in their New York apartment."
No one seems more surprised about his art's appeal than Rust and his wife of 56 years, Ruth Ann.
"This has been amazing to us," Willard Rust said. "Some of the artists make a living on this."
Ruth Ann said her husband started as a folk artist when their children were young.
"He would make things up, and the kids would play with it," she said.
His Adam and Eve images have been particularly popular, as have his many styles of Santa Claus.
When his daughters, Brenda and Dianna, were Marion High School students, he would make things for their classmates. Anything was fodder for his art. A missing hairbrush or toothbrush might end up in his creations. Back then the teenagers would say, "What's Willard's original today?"
Now his items are officially tagged Willard Originals and sell for from $50 to $250.
Rust's art was discovered about 15 years ago when Brenda, who lives in New Mexico, gave a piece to Martin, who deemed it fabulous and sellable.
Rust started making items in his tiny shed in Marion and shipping them weekly to Martin in New Mexico, and a second career was launched.
"One person said, 'I just have to have one of those diabolical Santas,'" Martin said. "If they want an art piece of their dog or cat, they can tell him a color or personality trait and give him a picture, and he will make one."
The art isn't for everyone, though. Rust's friends sometimes tease him about his wacky style.
"They say 'What were you drinking when you made this?'
"The sillier it is, the better Cam likes it" Rust said. "I do it because I really like to make something that is enjoyable. Usually I try to make something that makes them smile or laugh."
And each piece is an original. It has to be that way.
"The amazing thing is, if they see something they like," he said. "I can never make anything twice."
In 1994, Martin invited Rust to an event in Taos so his many admirers could meet him. The local radio station covered the event live.
"You would have had to be there to appreciate it," Ruth Ann said. "One guy brought a sailor piece wrapped in a baby blanket. One lady wanted him to have a picture taken with the art and her baby."
Then came the ultimate.
"A French woman said, 'He's a genius,'" Ruth Ann recalled.
"I said, 'Willard, we are heading back to Marion, and believe me, you are no genius.'"
The couple, high school sweethearts from their days at Van Buren High School, has a scrapbook filled with pictures of the event.
Other souvenirs of his work sometimes make their way back from Taos.
Marion residents Len and Virginia Clutter live two doors down from the Rusts. Their son, a surgeon in Sacramento, vacationed in Taos and found an art piece there that reminded him of Len. He bought it and gave it to his father for his birthday.
It turned out to be a Willard Original.
"Willard said, 'Well if I'd known that would end up in your hands I would have made it look more like you,'" said Len Cutter. "He sees something in wood. He's very unique that way."
Martin said she appreciates the "pure delightfulness" of how certain Rust pieces affect people, sometimes causing observers to laugh out loud.
"It's my favorite kind of art because it's so honest and pure and it comes from a person's heart," Martin said. "In Willard's case it is just joyous. It's hilarious. People either get it or they don't."*
Bio by Cathy Shouse
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