Visions in Sweet Mud Painter Favored Natural Materials by Howard Pousner for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Sudduth Jimmy Lee Sudduth exhibited a lust for life that fueled the Alabama painter's joyful art making well into his ninth decade. When he died last Sunday at age 97, the remarkable run of one of American folk art's most irrepressible characters was finally brought to a close. The popularity of vernacular art exploded in the 1980s, and Sudduth of Fayette in northwest Alabama was prominent among that wave of self­taught makers with original visions. Born in Caines Ridge, Ala., he grew up following his mom through the woods as she foraged for homemade cures. Sudduth began drawing on trees with charcoal and mud starting at age 3 and never veered from a love of natural materials in his nine-decade career.  After moving to Fayette, he made ends meet as a gardener, working on his frequently flora inspired art at night. Sudduth became famous for painting with "sweet mud;' a mixture of some of the three dozen different hues of dirt that he boasted he could find in Alabama alone. He'd dab the mud onto boards with his fingers, and to make it adhere, he added sweet stuff such as sorghum syrup, sugar, even Coca-Cola. For color, especially in the early days, he'd extract tints from rose petals and pokeweed berries, green pine-straw boughs and gravel, coffee grounds and turnip greens. Initially, Sudduth depicted things from his life: roosters, cabins, horses, cows, his succession of dogs (all of which he named Toto), Fayette landmarks. "Toto" circa 2000. Sudduth had a succession of dogs named Toto. After his national breakthrough in 1976, when he was invited to Washington as a guest artist at the bicentennial edition of the Smith­sonian's Festival of American Folklife, travel heightened Sudduth's interest in architecture. Over the years he repeatedly painted detailed renditions of the U. S. Capitol, Lady Liberty and the Manhattan skyline. "New York City" circa 2002. Travel heightened Sudduth's interest in architecture. Those who made the pilgrimage to Fayette usually got far more for their money than art, including Sudduth giving a mud-painting demonstration and wailing on blues harmonica. With Sudduth's passing - following the losses of fellow Alabama painter Mose Tolliver and Georgia artists R.A. Miller and Archie Byron - the blues is what fans of the Greatest Generation of Southeastern folk artists are feeling. "Self-Portrait" circa 1991. Jimmy Lee Sudduth began drawing on trees with charcoal and mud at age 3. He became famous for painting with a "sweet mud" mixture. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 9, 2007, Page K6