If you've seen Eddie Taylor's offbeat creations it won't surprise you to hear him say, "My brain doesn't work like a lot of people's." But then, that's the point. Taylor, 47, is a musician (he's half of The Loners) an artist, a husband and a dad. And although his art has always been with him, it's the music that carried the Kentucky native to many places before finally settling in Raleigh about a decade ago.

In classic rock 'n' roll fashion, he and his then-band, from Tucson, Ariz., were in town for a show when they decided to stay put.

"We said, 'We can get jobs here,'" recalled Taylor, who plays guitar and writes songs. 'Let's just move here.'"

Taylor is what the art world would call an outsider artist --self-trained, using recycled or inexpensive products and generally shunning uptown gallery ways.

Some of his pieces have given a second life to bottle caps, can lids and cardboard boxes. Taylor doesn't want too much emphasis on the bottle caps, though, even though his clocks and wallflowers and earrings using them are pretty cool.

"I'm trying to avoid being the wacky bottle cap guy," he said. "I gotta watch myself. I don't want to get pigeonholed."

Good company: As a teenager in Murray, Ky., Taylor befriended art students at Murray State University. "Art was the only thing I ever excelled in in high school," said Taylor, who dropped out. "I was encouraged to pursue it but I didn't. I didn't really know where I stood because I didn't have the background or the education."

Early inspiration: When Taylor was living in Louisville, Ky., a girlfriend introduced him to the work of the late legendary outsider artist Howard Finster. "She was a big fan," he said. "We went down to Georgia and met him and hung out with him. That starting making me see maybe that category is where I fall into." His other early influence was art-car artist and former Murray State student Chris Hubbard, who, along with Taylor, will be at next weekend's Fearrington Folk Art Show.

What's in a name: Taylor considers outsider art more urban and defines folk art as rural. "I'm influenced by both," he said. "Going back to old school, Vollis Simpson has been a huge influence on me since I moved to North Carolina," Taylor said of the whirligig artist living near Wilson. "We actually got married on his farm." Taylor's wife is Shonna Greenwell, who owns Raleigh art and frame gallery Rebus Works. They have an 18-month-old daughter.

Getting serious: "I've always made things, but I haven't always had the space I needed," Taylor said. "About two or three years ago I decided to make a go of it. Instead of saying, 'Look at my five pieces,' I wanted to say 'Look at my 50 pieces.'" He has a space in the basement of a building at Glenwood Avenue and Jones Street downtown. Taylor also works part time at a cabinet shop and helps care for his daughter.

Royal Raleigh: Taylor finds the local art world none too inviting. "I've been just watching the Raleigh arts scene become this elitist thing. It's like, 'Get off the streets of Raleigh because we're cleaning it up.' Art should be for everyone, but we're getting bludgeoned over the head that it's not. My thing is to make art for the average person who has $40 or $50 to spend for original artwork. I'm very anti-establishment art."

Waste not: Reusing materials is a priority for Taylor. "At the cabinet shop it was hard to see a lot of stuff going into the Dumpster and the landfill. I kept thinking, 'I can do something with that.'" In fact, he hasn't tossed out a full load of trash from his studio for at least three months. "I'm proud of myself for recirculating everything."

Big shoes to fill: Taylor's latest obsession is imagery with stencils and spray paint. "I'm really getting into folklore; I'm kind of obsessed with Bigfoot. I have a series called Bigfoot Nation. I hope he's out there. I feel like he's very disappointed in what mankind is doing." Taylor's other new work is called Lo-Fi Militia. "It's about street-level militia, bottles, rockets, guitars, and words. It's about getting it out there, against the man, all that good stuff."

Restroom collection: "A lot of my stuff has this kitsch flavor. People hang it in the bathroom or breakfast nook. I don't take myself so seriously. Like the Bigfoot things, I know they're kind of goofy; that's part of their charm."

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