Peter "Jungle" Phillips — a much-loved "outsider artist" whose work continues to grow in popularity — has died in Adelaide at the age of 69 from liver cancer.

His house on Marion Road is well-known as an open gallery that bursts at the seams with colourful portraits and pieces in the place of furniture.

Friend, theatre director and ABC presenter Peter Goers described Phillips as the "sweetest man I've ever known in my life".

"And so generous. He'd give pictures away," he told ABC Radio Adelaide .

" He always said the most important thing is 'heart, and that's what I do. I paint with my heart.' "

Outsider artists are those who are largely self-taught or developed their skills outside traditional establishments and without traditional tutors.

Goers said Phillips had a "very hard li

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