Watercolor painting by South Strabane woman included in “Art of the State” exhibit
Courtesy of Connie Clutter
South Strabane artist Connie Clutter has a portrait in this year’s “Art of the State” exhibit, which opens in Harrisburg Sept. 11
Courtesy of Connie Clutter
A 2019 portrait of Kkjkjhjkh, a Washington & Jefferson College student, is Clutter’s entry in this year’s “Art of the State” exhibit, which assembles work by artists across Pennsylvania.
Breaking an ankle will never, ever be thought of as anybody’s idea of a good time, but for Connie Clutter it turned out to be a mishap that widened her vistas and led her to explore her own talents.
With her mobility limited and time on her hands, Clutter began to delve into art and, more specifically, sketching. She eventually took some classes with the Washington Art Association, the McMurray Art League and the Carnegie Museum of Art. Clutter developed a fascination with faces and their unique characteristics. At the same time, she was able to closely study the variety of watercolor works the museum holds in its collection, and decided she wanted to create portraits.
“It was a little bit later on that I started painting,” Clutter said. “I’ve had a lot of good teachers and a lot of people who were excellent artists who helped me. That helped spur me to keep going.”
In the years since, Clutter has flourished as an artist. Her watercolor portraits have been displayed during Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Arts Festival and Art in the Garden in Washington, the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art in Ligonier, the Stifel Fine Arts Center in Wheeling, W.Va., the Black Rock Center for the Arts in Germantown, Md., and other locations. The manager of the store at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum by day, she attained a major career coup recently by being selected as one of 92 Pennsylvania artists from 31 counties whose work will be in the annual “Art of the State” exhibit. It will open on Sunday, Sept. 11 at the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg.
Clutter’s 2019 rendering of Kahdija Charpentier, then a Washington & Jefferson College student, was one of 1,850 entries organizers of the “Art of the State” received. The exhibit encompasses painting, photography, sculpture, craft and work on paper. The works were selected by a three-member jury from the art and academic worlds.
Clutter points to painters like Andrew Wyeth, Mary Whyte, Jeremy Lipking and Burton Silverman as influences. To kickstart the process, Clutter studies photographs of faces, and when she latches onto something about their features – “just different things,” she explained – and then goes from there.
“A gesture, a look, a mannerism,” she said. That can include people that she has fleeting, everyday encounters with, such as a woman who delivers FedEx packages to her abode.
“There was something that resonated with me,” Clutter explained. “My photos are references for the painting. When I photograph my model, I sometimes pose them with an idea in mind, and other times as I go through my photos, I see something that inspires me….”
She does sketches and value studies, the latter of which are used to help determine a watercolor painting’s tone and shape. Clutter explained, “Those help me recreate what I connected to in the photo.”
She added, “I use different backgrounds and colors to create different moods and convey emotion in the painting. There is a lot to consider before I begin. Sometimes more time is spent developing a painting than the actual time at the easel.”
Clutter’s portrait of Charpentier will be in the “Art of the State” exhibit through Sunday, Jan. 15. Also, in the first half of 2023, some of Clutter’s portraits will be on display the Mt. Lebanon Public Library.
For additional information about Clutter and her paintings, go online to connieclutter.com.
For more information about “Art of the State” and the State Museum, go online to www.statemuseumpa.org.