Royal Robertson (1936-1997) was born in St. Helena Parish, Louisiana, on October 21st, 1936. Robertson later moved to Baldwin, Louisiana. Robertson left school after completing the eighth grade. In his late teens he apprenticed as a sign painter and then traveled to the West coast where he worked as a field hand and sign painter. He returned to Louisiana in the 1950s to care for his mother where he continued to work as a sign painter. He married Adell Brent in 1955 and they had eleven children. Their marriage ended after 19years when Adell left him, moving to Texas with their children.

Robertson remained in Louisiana after his marriage ended and became a recluse. Robertson suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and claimed to have had his first vision of a space ship with God as driver, when he was fourteen. He recorded his visions in his imagery and writings. Numerous hallucinatory visions of space travel with saucers, outer space beings, futuristic cities and cars filled his subjects. Royal viewed his art as divinely sanctioned. He saw himself as a prophet and patriarch in search of a new Zion. He identified himself as "Libra Patriarch Prophet Lord Archbishop Apostle Visionary Mystic Psychic Saint Royal Robertson".

Royal worked on poster board using markers, ink, enamel paints, & glitter as the materials were accessible. He studied the bible immensely and used porn magazines, comics, and science fiction books for further inspiration. Robertson was a self-taught artist with no formal training but he took a number of correspondence courses in drawing skills and illustration.
Many of his pieces contain a backside calendar where he would record visions, dreams, desires, and visits from his art friends.

Royal's yard was decorated with many of signs of rotating warnings for “whores and bastards” along side beautiful portraits of voluptuous futuristic women and space men. The inside of his house was decorated with rotating calendars, drawings, paintings, and shrines. There were also secret rooms which looked to be for private ceremonies.
The home Royal built was destroyed by Hurricane Andrew in 1992. We spent a lot of time with Royal following the hurricane helping him to save what was salvageable and build a storage shed while FEMA worked to construct him a new home. This tragedy also helped him re associate with his children. His eldest son was in the process of moving to live with Royal in his new home. This brought joy to Royal but also stirred many emotions. He cried into the night prior to his son's moving day for his love of his ex-wife Adele and the pain he held in his heart. He was found the next morning in his back yard having suffered and died from a heart attack in 1997.

Apart from Royal's challenges, he was a kind man who longed for companionship and felt it was his calling to record his visions. He was always respectful to visitors and took care in how he presented himself and his environment. Royal was a tortured soul who chose not to be medicated, but through his illness, talent, and interests executed in his artwork; he left behind a huge glimpse into this extremely creative mind turned inside out.