Barbara Adkins is an artist, collector, and the founder of Black Sheep Antiques. Born and raised in Alabama as a preacher’s child, she spent her early years living in parsonages and small towns across the state—an upbringing that fostered a deep appreciation for history, place, and storytelling through objects.

Barbara earned a BA in Art from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and later completed a postgraduate degree in Antique and Fine Art Appraisal at the University of Montevallo. She spent forty years working in the contract furniture industry before founding Black Sheep Antiques, where she has become known as a trusted purveyor of distinctive, unusual antiques, art, and furnishings. She has held leadership roles in organizations such as the Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation and is widely regarded as an expert in historic homes and fine antiques.

Barbara is married to Sonny Adkins and is a proud grandmother to Eli Chancellor Stone, through her son, Chancellor Stone, heir apparent.