Jonas Holman painted in both a folk and more painterly style simultaneously and within the same community. His work challenges the notion that artistic styles were purely a regional preference and introduces the possibility of a sitter’s economic or religious life in deciding how they wished to be presented. Further complicating our understanding of American art during the nineteenth century, Holman’s work as a painter supported his work a Freewill Baptist preacher traveling along the East Coast in the 1830s, 40s and 50s.