PONCHATOULA, La. (AP) - Southern folk artist William Hemmerling, whose artistic creations using simple pieces of discarded wood and metal earned him acclaim, has died after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 66.

Jack Siekkinen, Hemmerling's manager, and his wife, Carol Siekkinen, who was Hemmerling's agent, confirmed Tuesday that the artist died Monday at his home in Ponchatoula, where his art gallery is also located. It's about 40 miles northwest of New Orleans.

"He was at genius level when it comes to creativity and imagination," said Carol Siekkinen. "He never worked on commission. He would just paint what he felt, whatever was inside."

In 2005, the Chicago native was selected to create the poster for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, which featured jazz cornetist Charles "Buddy" Bolden. He's also been honored by the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Northshore Regional Endowment for the Arts and the African American Heritage Museum in Aurora, Ill.

His only artistic training came when he worked as a visual artist for Sears, setting up interior store displays, Siekkinen said.

Six years ago, she said Hemmerling wandered into the Louisiana Furniture Gallery, a non-profit she and her husband created to help people who build furniture sell their work.

"He said he was getting ready to retire and he needed money and he thought he could paint. He asked if he could join the association and if we would put some of his work on display in the gallery and that's really how it all began," she said.

Since then, she said Hemmerling's had more than 1,000 people buy his work and most are repeat customers, 80 percent of whom live out of state. His work, she said, began selling for between $100 and $500 and now prices range from $3,000 to $20,000.

"Collectors from all over the world say they're just touched by his work," she said. "Not a week goes by where someone comes into the gallery and is not brought to tears by his work. He was an old Hippie, with the innocence of a child. It's just a fairy-tale story of where he came from to where he is now. He always used to say ‘Don't call me an artist. I'm just really a painter.'"

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