Last spring one of my classes took a field trip to the Southern Ohio Museum and Culture Center just before the effects of Covid really hit the area and things started shutting down. When I read through this prompt and saw that we were to take inspiration from art we saw in a museum, I still wanted to try and work off of the art that I saw at the Culture Center last year. Because when I think of famous artists who have art in museums I don't typically think about people from our little town. So seeing works from people from our area who have made a name for themselves through their art was very special and refreshing.
However during my my previous trip, I remember that I tried to take some pictures of the art that I found particularly fascinating but was devastated later when I found that my phone, which is honestly close to running on its last leg, had not saved most of the pictures. It did save a couple of the pictures though and thankfully, two were of my favorite works from the museum. But, in the pictures that I have, the name of the artist was cut off. The two images were winter themed paintings. One was titled, Ice and Weeds, and the other, Dark Hollow Road. Though I am not the biggest fan of winter as a season, I do love the aesthetic. Since I knew we were supposed to get some snow this week, and I also live up a "Hollow", I really wanted to work with these.
So, I went on a journey to try and figure out exactly who painted these works and let me tell you, it took a lot longer than I expected. I even went so far as to research in depth the people the artworks were created in memory of. After a couple hours of research, I finally came to find a man named Clarence Holbrook Carter and I believe it was him that created these works of art. It was surprisingly difficult to find images of his work so I do not have definitive proof that it was in fact Carter who created these pieces but it seems pretty likely. Regardless, reading about him was very interesting and it was nice to hear about someone from our area who has art in prominent museums throughout the United States. Because I know that this is the case for me, sometimes it is easy to get discouraged about your work when you come from a smaller town with few opportunities. It seems like you might never be recognized for the things that you do. But artists like Clarence Carter show that it CAN happen and it is not impossible.
Ice and Weeds, 1958
Dark Hollow Road, Pennsylvania, 1949
And here are my photographs inspired by his works!
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