Recently, an auction of paintings by Louise Hull Clarke was held at the Locust Grove Brewery, 162 North Road in Milton. All proceeds will be shared between the Sarah Hull Hallock Library and the Marlborough Arts Coalition [MaArCo].

 

Louise Hull Clarke was born in Poughkeepsie on October 19, 1923 and graduated from Smith College in 1945. She moved to Milton after marrying James R. Clarke in 1948. She worked on the family farm and was very active in the community. Louise became an accomplished landscape painter, depicting many scenes in the Milton area. A number of exhibits were held of her works in town and in Rockport, Massachusetts and in Stonington, Maine. Louise passed away on December 14, 2016 at the age of 93.

 

Her paintings were brought out of storage and sold by silent auction and a few by a live auction conducted by Chip Kent. As a young man Chip remembers Louise coming to the Kent Farm to paint outdoors on sunny days.

 

“She would park over there and she would paint the barn and she loved the cupola and the house next door. There are some paintings of that around,” he said. “I would see her here all the time. She was a very nice lady.”

 

Milton Library Trustee Maribeth King discovered that Clarke painted not only scenes around Marlborough but also of Italy, Puerto Rico, Martha’s Vineyard and Maine.

 

“It’s pretty interesting; it was her life’s work,” King said.

 

Tim Lawton said he came to the auction for two reasons; “We’re big supporters of the library and as a matter of fact I just opened a donation string to refurbish the library’s fireplace and put a gas insert in it to make it usable again. We’re also great friends of Chip and Peg and this is a place that we come to get away and I just think the whole the concept of local artists being showcased this way to raise money for local institutions is something that we just do,” he said. “There are paintings here from the early 1960s and as recent as 1987.”

 

Lawton praised Clarke’s talent not only in painting but also her needlepoint work; it’s so impressive and the paintings are beautiful with tremendous variations in style. There are some really interesting ones and I looked at one and said I know that spot. There is one of Amodeo’s Gas Station and one of a farm when you go up Willow Tree.”

 

Lawton said he was pleased with the large turnout for this event.

 

“I am just very happy that this is happening, I love that it brings the community together for a cause and I love that a local artist is being highlighted, it’s amazing,” he said.

 

A trio of musicians – Geoff Jones, Kit Cowan and Laura Leigh -  performed a variety of folk, fiddle and original music during the afternoon.