Danny Doughty is a visionary folk artist in Onancock, Virginia on the Eastern Shore. The son of a waterman & a teenage bride, Danny grew up in abject poverty on Willis Wharf creek where he found himself in a dark, isolated, & brutal world of extreme dysfunction & abuse. We hear about where the imagery of his paintings comes from; the peace he feels when consumed in his art; and how the African American women his father peddled fish to showed him a profound spirituality that freed him from his hellish life. For his story, Danny paints us a harrowing & intensely disturbing picture of just what that childhood hell was like around his father's clam house down at the wharf. And yet, out of the darkness Danny has found light. We hear about his adolescent art made from scavenged materials; an anecdote about women fishing with hand lines; a regional ol' wives' tale about cracked cake; and get an overall feeling of a profound hope that transcends suffering. The guiding light of this episode is the healing power of creativity, art, and self-expression.

Check out Danny's paintings & gallery in Onancock. And watch the PBS short film about him and his work.


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