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Lucy Karslake (B. 1930), Ohio Artist

Ms. Karslake is best known for her rapidograph pen drawings with endless architectural details.  Rapidograph pens were once technical pens used as a mainstay for designers and illustrators.  When computer graphics came along, it made these pens almost obsolete.  Yet artists like Karslake still uses these type of pens for her artwork.  Case in point, in 2014 the Hudson (Ohio) Public Library had an exhibit of her drawings that included architectural renderings from a lifetime of work.  The exhibit included her artwork from 1971 through 2013, and could be considered a retrospective.  This exhibit showed her skill with a rapidograph ink pen.  She frequently applied ink to three-ply bristolboard for her drawings.

Karslake has lived in the Hudson area for over forty plus years.  Hudson is in the suburbs of Akron and Cleveland.  It was in this community she earned a living by being a second-grade teacher and it was here that she also participated in numerous art workshops that sharpened her artistic methods.

Karslake has played an important role within the Hudson Society of Artists.  She has served on numerous committees and was President of the organization in 2013.  This is a group of artists that add artistic culture to the community, establishing events and exhibits.  Additionally, they sometimes take on special projects that includes accomplishing a mural in their downtown area.

It is said that she accomplished over a 1000 drawings during her art career.  Many of these drawings were architectural renderings used to illustrate home details to prospective home buyers.  This type of illustration art requires a full understanding of one and two point perspectives complete with vanishing points.  It looks simple, yet can be difficult without modern computer technology.

This doesn't mean that Karslake only worked in a tight illustrative mode.  She frequently used other mediums and styles to accomplish her art.  One of her early watercolors:  "Back Woods" is a loose illustration of an Appalachian hollow cabin with a sign on the fence announcing:  "Prepare To Meet God", as shown below. 
"Back Woods"
Pen and Ink - Watercolor on Paper (early 1970s)
Signed - Lower Left Corner:  Lucy Karslake
Approx. 16 X 12 Inches
We can just imagine that Karslake had driven from her present home in Ohio down into Kentucky's southeastern Appalachian hills and came across a scene that needed to be recorded on watercolor paper.  This painting takes on the "New Deal" - the Public Works Art Progress - Modernism style that was popular in the 1930s.  She portrays Appalachian life with an impoverished family home completed with the most simple surroundings and hope that God will provide.  The mountain homestead is weathered gray, surrounded by a dense patchwork of green/blue trees.  There is an abandoned wagon wheel in the front yard and the driveway is Kentucky red clay that become gumbo when it rains.  The rickety fence needs some repair.  The sign provides a millennial prophecy convincing by-passers that the world will soon end, and God will redeem his children.  The entire scene provides fond memories.

"Back Woods" should have been the book cover illustration for Ohio native, J. D. Vance's best selling book:  "Hillbilly Elegy".  Karslake quickly rendered this five step ink-watercolor, recording a moment in time.  It is loosely painted with inky trees, smudges and blots, yet with an architectural rendering technique and tight typefaced graphics, accomplished a generation ago.  Whereas it was painted early in her art career, it shows great maturity and still evokes emotion with its shadows and a scene that grabs you by the eyeballs.  It preaches the current social concern of Appalachian family need.  Some of Karslake's early work is more than just art, it is social criticism and it deserves a second look.

Lucy Karslake
Architectural Rendering of Klingler Gate
HSA - 2010 Special Merit Award

Lucy Karslake, Printed Signature and Title

References:

  • Hudson Society of Artists, Events and Exhibit Announcements, Hudson, Ohio 44236. https://www.hudsonsocietyofartists.com/
  • Paula Schleis, Akron Beacon Journal, Hudson Artists Add Mural to Downtown Doorway, July 21, 2012.
  • MyTownNEO, Pop-Up Art Show at Case-Barlow Farm May 12, April 28, 2013, Internet Article.
  • Exhibit at:  Margaret Clark Morgan Gallery.
  • Special thanks to the Hudson Society of Artists for the photo of Ms. Lucy Karslake.
  • Graduated 1951, California University of Pennsylvania. 
  • Donald King "Don" Karslake Obituary, married Lucille Tharpe, Nov. 10, 1950, Divorced early 70s.  Lucy is a Brownsville, OH, native.   
  • The back of the picture has the name and address:  Donald K. Karslake, 1696 Parker Blvd., Tonawanda, New York.  Donald's son Robert T. Karslake was stationed at MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa, Florida.  The painting was purchased in the Tampa Bay area.       

©2023. Waller-Yoblonsky Fine Art is a research collaborative, working to track artists that got lost and overlooked due to time, changing styles, race, gender and/or sexual orientation. Our frequent blogs highlight artists and art movements that need renewed attention with improved information for the researcher and art collectors. The photos and blog was created by Mr. Waller and all written materials were obtained by the Fair Use Section 107, of The Copyright Act. #waller-yoblonskyblogspot #walleryoblonskyblogspot #lucykarslake #LucyKarslakewatercolor #DonaldKKarslake #Hudsonohio #watercolorrealism #Appalachianhollowcabin #ohioart







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