Ask the People, Don't Ask Me: 

Outsider Artist Clyde Jones in His Own Words

Getting There:

Personnel:

MOLE: I read that you started this stuff when you hurt your leg.
CLYDE: I did.

MOLE: How did you hurt your leg?
CLYDE: A tree rolled on this knee and broke it all to pieces. I wasn't supposed to be doing nothing; two deer was over yonder [pointing to his art]. They looked lonesome to me. You see they ain't lonesome no more.

MOLE: When did you start?
CLYDE: 82, March twenty-third.

MOLE: What made you decide to start making the animals?
CLYDE: Going through the woods, seeing nature and wood looking just like animals.

MOLE: Can you describe your process a little bit of how you make one?
CLYDE: Well, I start from the stump of the right part of the tree and make the head. Stuff like that. Turn the stump, keep turning it to make a pig, dog, whatever.

MOLE: You use a chainsaw for everything?
CLYDE: Yeah. 

MOLE: What makes you decide to make one animal over another, like a dog instead of a deer?
CLYDE: Its the closest to nature I can come. Leave it there. Mother Nature put it here, she gonna take it back when youre done. 

MOLE: So if you pick up a piece a wood, what tells you youre going to make a specific animal?
CLYDE: I see it in my own mind what I'm wantin' to do.

MOLE: What kind of responses have people around here had to it?
CLYDE: It's real nice, this place here. They come from around the world.

MOLE: Nobody's complained or anything?
CLYDE: Nope.

JOYCE: Do the neighbors like it?
CLYDE: Must do because they've got em in their yard. Everybody on this hill, in this neighborhood. Nothin else but mine.

MOLE: You started doing the paintings after you started doing the sculptures--
CLYDE: About eight year ago.

MOLE: What made you decide to add paintings to what you were doing?
CLYDE: Well, I was going by angles and stuff, I decided might as well make a cam[?] [could be camel or camp].

MOLE: How did you come up with the style of painting you have, where the paint is raised and layed on really thick?
JOYCE:   Yeah, what kind of paint is that?
CLYDE: Acrylic. I keep messing with it and messing with it, build it up.

MOLE: You discovered that as you worked on it?
CLYDE: Yeah. For a long time working with schools, trying to give kids ideas.

DAVID: Do you live here?
CLYDE: I live here. Me an the dog. Hes around somewhere.

JOYCE: What is it like to have weird strangers come up and ask you questions all the time?
CLYDE: Well, that's good. Makes me want to do better. Gives me something different.

MOLE: How many animals do you think you've made?
CLYDE: Close to two thousand.

JOYCE: You must make em pretty fast.
CLYDE: Yeah. It's been going on for about nineteen years.

MOLE: We've been seeing them along the road as we came up--
CLYDE: They're still mine. I just don't have room for them.

MOLE: Do you give em away to your neighbors?
CLYDE: Nope, they buy em. They bought em--Christmas time--they light em all up--reindeer.

MOLE: There's a lot of reindeer on this street, but along Route 15 there's different animals, too.
JOYCE: We kept seeing them on the road; it was like, Stop maybe that's his house!
CLYDE: Thats a sign you're gettin close by.

MOLE: Where do you get the materials? Where do you get the wood?
CLYDE: It comes in here--wood, I bought a lot up. A lot I brought in from Georgia, and everywhere. I make em a trade with it, stuff like that. I'm only working with cedar now, too.

MOLE: You've used plastic flowers for eyes--how do you come up with those ideas?
CLYDE: Whatever I see in front of me, if I think it works, I do it.

MOLE: You're using what you have at hand?
CLYDE: Yep.

JOYCE: Cedar's a lot harder than pine.
CLYDE: Pine'll rot right through. No good.

JOYCE: This stuff looks like it can get all wet and stand up to a long time.
CLYDE: Cedar be here when me and you gone, you know that.

MOLE: I read that they decided to put one of the animals in a book and when they came back to photograph it, you'd painted it a different color. Are you always repainting them?
CLYDE: Yeah.

MOLE: What makes you decide to repaint em?
CLYDE: Now, that's a question I can't answer. I don't know.

MOLE: You just see one and start working on it?
CLYDE: An artist is never rolex replica watches satisfied with what he's doing. You could walk up here, you could tell me something that helps me, too. 

MOLE: The ones that are in the yard now, have they been here awhile?
CLYDE: Nope. They move out and in. All the old ones are still in here. Theyre all over the yard. Some of em been here throughout eighteen years. Young uns come here; I work with kids.

MOLE: What do the kids think of your stuff?
CLYDE: That's a question--I'm gonna let you ask them. When they all leave, they've got smiles. I could tell you anything. Let the young uns tell you.

MOLE: What kind of animals have you made?
CLYDE: There's not any I haven't made. Aardvarks, and all that. Monkeys. And all that stuff.

MOLE: You've made an octopus?
CLYDE: Yeah. There's one big un that sits in front. He's in shows right now. Elephant's took his place. 

JOYCE: What do you do with the schools? Do art classes come here?
CLYDE: We go to schools, let them draw on board. I cut it out, they paint it and they can see what's in them little heads. Let them know they can do something. Not just sit around.

JOYCE: Does it make you feel good to fake rolex make stuff? I know it helps me.
CLYDE: Yeah. Another thing, theres too much wasted in this country. Can't be something done by it.

MOLE: Do you see yourself reusing things other people would throw away?
CLYDE: Yeah.

MOLE: Was that something you had in mind when you started making things?
CLYDE: Yeah.

MOLE: I see you found a bunch of plastic fruit for the giraffe there.
CLYDE: That fruit come in from all omega replica over the world, people bring it here.

MOLE: You've used a lot of film canisters, too.
CLYDE: Those come from California, a lot of em.

JOYCE: It's pretty crazy how you see everyday things people just throw away.
CLYDE: I know. You'd be surprised how much is wasted, you really would. A lot of other countries would be glad to have it.

MOLE: What made you decide to paint your roof rather than painting a board or making an animal?
CLYDE: I can't answer that myself.

MOLE: I'm also interested in your life. What kind of work did you do prior to your leg injury?
CLYDE: I done loggin, electrician, plumbin, landscapin. This is the only thing I ever ended up doing to stay with.

DAVID: Was making art something you considered when you were younger?
CLYDE: Can't answer the question.

MOLE: Did you feel satisfied doing that other work?
CLYDE: For a while. Before learnin something else. Which I hadn't not want what I hadn't done yet; I'm tryin to get there--what I'm doin now.

MOLE: You think you'll get tired of making the animals and move on to something else?
CLYDE: [shakes head no]

MOLE: Whats this pink guy here--a pink elephant?
CLYDE: Yeah. There was a big front loader of a pink elephant--what was it? I don't know what it was now.

JOYCE: It makes me think of that song Pink elephants on parade, from a Walt Disney movie [Dumbo].
CLYDE: I believe it was that.

MOLE: Do you have a favorite animal that you like to make?
CLYDE: No.

MOLE: I see a lot of the dogs, and a lot of horses, and a lot of giraffes.
CLYDE: Oh yeah.

MOLE: Do you tend to make all those at one time, one after the other?
CLYDE: No. Different times.

JOYCE: More reindeer around Christmas?
CLYDE: You said it.

MOLE: There doesn't seem to be any limit to the stuff you use to make these.
CLYDE: If you bring it here, I'll try to use it. It don't work out all the time.

MOLE: Ever done anything with a car?
CLYDE: No.

JOYCE: Theres a guy out by Smithfield who does these whirligigs--Vollis Simpson. Ever see his stuff?
CLYDE: Oh yeah. I'm in shows with him and museums all the time.

JOYCE: The first time I saw all those I thought I was gonna pass out.
CLYDE: It's pretty when the sun shines.

JOYCE: All the reflectors.
CLYDE: Yeah.

MOLE: It looked like you made a Lady Godiva, the woman on a horse around the corner.
CLYDE: She's one of the first pieces I done.

MOLE: What's the story with that?
CLYDE: Long story--Just what some think I know.

DAVID: Do you do this full time now?
CLYDE: No. Only when I need it for a museum.

MOLE: Are you working on something now?
CLYDE: No.

DAVID: Are there certain times when you feel like creating stuff?
CLYDE: No. Though I've gotten work for weeks before I ever stop.

MOLE: How long have you been here?
CLYDE: Twenty some years. Too long--shoulda been in New York.

JOYCE: You can go now.
CLYDE: Don't want to go now. This place is real nice.

MOLE: Where'd you live before Bynum?
CLYDE: Ten miles--Pittsboro.

MOLE: Is that where you were born?
CLYDE: [nods yes]

DAVID: Do you display all the photos people send you on your wall there?
CLYDE: They's young uns stuff. I got three file cabinets crammed full of young uns pictures.

MOLE: It's interesting that you stick to making animals. Have you ever thought of making paintings about scenes?
CLYDE: No. When I paint, I try to stick with birds, wildlife, bees and stuff like that all the time.

MOLE: Why'd you make that decision?
CLYDE: I love animals....Now you know I'm not kidding--you can find out from anybody, ask anybody you want. I get along with everybody, friends with everybody. Come from China, anywhere you come from, you're welcome.

MOLE: Who gave you the jacket? [Satin jacket with elaborate machine embroidered design on back advertising the Jungle Boy Zoo, Clyde's art work, and Stihl chainsaws.]
CLYDE: I'm a demonstrator for Stihl chainsaws.

MOLE: Do they pay you to use the chainsaw?
CLYDE: They furnish all my equipment.

MOLE: How did you get hooked up with them?
CLYDE: Well, you do five hundred demonstrations, time for em to do something for me.

MOLE: Did you contact them?
CLYDE: They contact me. They came here one day from Norfolk, Virginia. Give me a bunch of hats, the saws and a jacket.

MOLE: Did you always use a Stihl chainsaw prior to that?
CLYDE: For years I did. I used to run Pohlen.

MOLE: Which one do you like better?
CLYDE: I wouldn't have nothin but Stihl....I'll tell you what, if you're around here Christmas, they light the whole hill up Christmas. There's nothing that I use that's wood that's cut down for wood; it's already cut down--to build a house. It'd only be wasted. There's too much our trees being cut now.

MOLE: What are these guys doing here? They're driving a car?
CLYDE: Well, that's a long story. We'll see--can you guess who they are? It's a funny program on television.

MOLE: It looks like the Flintstones.
CLYDE: Ah, you got em. Another thing, I don't do more to the wood than I have to, like chop anything--I leave it to nature. I don't wanna do more'n I have to.

JOYCE: That's what I like about the alligators. You can still tell they're logs.
CLYDE: Everybody likes alligators, I don't know why. Them crazy cows over there're crazy. [Points to cows cut from a flat board, painted and attached to his fence.]

MOLE: Did you cut out those shapes with a chainsaw, too?
CLYDE: I didn't. I cut them out with a little jigsaw. I got the jigsaw mostly to go to schools with. It mighta been cut with a chainsaw. I could cut em with chainsaw.

MOLE: When you go to cut em do you draw it out first or do you just start--
CLYDE: I just cut it in my mind, goin along. I can take any piece of anything I'll cut with my chainsaw and go ahead and cut it. It's handed down to me somehow; I'm tryin to do something.

MOLE: Did your father or anyone in your family do this?
CLYDE: No one in my family.

MOLE: You don't know where this came from?
CLYDE: No, I'm the only one in the world, that's all I can tell you. There's a reason for it. I might not be able to do. I hope somebody do it someday. Who knows.

MOLE: Do you have any kids?
CLYDE: I ain't never been married. Nobody could ever keep up with a wild one like me. It'll be passed on to my brother's nephews. I've got something in every country. Settin on the Chinese wall. Everybody in the whole world knows it. Overseas--I got pieces in every museum. I started it for a hobby and ended up in politics.

MOLE: You got a big piece of watermelon over there.
CLYDE: You can eat a long time on that one. But anytime you all come here, you're welcome, just come on in. Don't hold back. 

MOLE: Are you going to paint the ones you haven't painted?
CLYDE: Thats a question--I can't answer. I don't know. If you're around Christmas, see all the deer lighted up around here, you'd like that.

MOLE: What are all those black rubber disks on that giraffe over there?
CLYDE: I don't know what they are, something they brought from Chapel Hill. I get a lot of things I don't know what they are. I find a place for em somehow. Don't always work, but I find a place for it.

MOLE: Have you traveled a lot for shows?
CLYDE: I've traveled all over the U.S. I ain't been out of the U.S., just my stuff is all. I got something in every country. [Brings out a box of photos and scrapbooks documenting places his animals have been around the world.] 

JOYCE:  It seems like they make a lot of people happy.
CLYDE: It's like I told you--I'll let you ask the people. I could tell you anything. I won't tell you nothing. I got ten file cabinets full of stuff from all over the world. Books--two or three hundred art books on me. I could keep going all day bringing stuff out....[About the two headed dog:].A little young un asked me "Why's he got two heads?" I said, "he don't have to bend his neck while he's doing things; he can keep on running and keep on going." They said "You're crazy. They pullin away from each other, goin two different ways." I don't go but so far, and I don't go all the way--let the young uns tell ya. Give em something to do. They sit around too much. Let em know they can do things. Let em know they can do something.

MOLE: Do you sell the animals out of your yard to people?
CLYDE: Around Christmas, they come out [and look for the reindeer].

MOLE: Do a lot of people ask to buy em?
CLYDE: All the time.

MOLE: What do you tell em?
CLYDE: I hadn't thought about it. I don't think about it.

MOLE: But you have sold some.
CLYDE: I have sold them, yeah. Well, museum [?] gets to most of em, not that I'm not gaining nothing by doing em. I just leave em in the yard to look at and I just get enough money for what I need. I don't get lonely; I've got something to do all the time.

MOLE: You call this the Jungle Boy Zoo?
CLYDE: I didn't call it that. New York or somebody put that on me. Book done that long time ago.

MOLE: That's not something you call it yourself?
CLYDE: No. They call me Skeeter Rabbit and everything else, but I don't know what I'm supposed to be.

JOYCE: It's weird how your words can get all twisted around.
CLYDE: Oh, I don't care. There's nothing wrong to it. Whatever you call it, they call you that. Critter Crossing signs, and all that.

JOYCE: Where did that Critter Crossing sign come from?
CLYDE: County. State.

MOLE: They put it up?
CLYDE: They brought it here and made me put it up! There's probably some tax in that; they got their money back on the sign.

MOLE: What's the ladder on the roof for?
CLYDE: That's what I get up and paint the stuff with; I stand on that. 

MOLE: You been working on them recently?
CLYDE: No; I just left it up there. I got to get back up there and paint em up right.

MOLE: I've noticed that some of them have fallen over in the back; what happened there? There's some big giraffes--
CLYDE: I took em down. I'm workin on em.

MOLE: There's some others laying on their side in the yard.
CLYDE: I took em down. When they stay so long, I take em back down and re-do em so no question of em hurtin a young un when they fall. I check on em all the time. The long necks is got rods in em and stuff like that, and they couldn't fall no way, if they wanted to. But I make sure they're safe, everything in the yard. I check these all the time to see that no pieces loose or fly loose with a young un on it. You have to be safe with young uns; you know they gonna get on em.

MOLE: Can you stand on them?
CLYDE: Yeah. Jump up and down on it.

MOLE: You've done it yourself?
CLYDE: Good God, you can put a thousand pounds on 'em. They ain't goin' nowhere. The legs wont come loose. Its bolted there; it stays.

MOLE: Would you rather have people buy one of your animals or make one themselves?
CLYDE: Well, you'll come out cheaper making your own animal. I'd feel better if you went home and tried to make you one.

MOLE: I find that each one has a distinct face, a distinct character as I go through the yard.
CLYDE: Everytime you go through there you gonna see something different. You ain't gonna get it all. You gonna get part of it. I don't care if you spend all day.

END