Clementine Hunter
Have you ever been in a position where you wished you had done things differently. Well, I guess we all have. One thing that comes to mind today is the fact that I had a chance to purchase something cheap that later would have been priceless.
In the late 1950’s I had a summer job working for my daddy at his Pest Control business. I have never been a fan of pests. Rats and roaches, I can tolerate but snakes and spiders I want nothing to do with. At first, I was to climb under houses searching for termite mounds. Sorry folks, I was too chicken and scared, afraid of the numerous spider webs and possibilities of snakes under houses. I refused. Frankly, I told my daddy, I would rather spend all day in the hayfield lifting bales. Eventually I rode with one of his workers, Mr. Cole. Our territory was Winfield and Natchitoches, Louisiana. Hey, I liked that. I loved Natchitoches and the antebellum homes. This I didn’t mind because I usually sprayed for roaches and ants outside the homes while Mr. Cole worked the inside.
One of our main customers was Melrose Plantation. We took care of all the outbuildings as well as the main house. I loved working there. I always had time to explore the insides of several of the buildings.
On the days we were to be in Natchitoches, we serviced those in the town first and stopped by Melrose on our way back to Alexandria since it required several hours work. Somehow, we always managed stopping at noon time because the housekeeper and cook always had a delicious meal for us. Sometimes it was meat pies or pulled pork with green beans and squash, or fried chicken followed by a wonderful pie for dessert. The food was always delicious. We would sit at a table in the kitchen and visit with the cook and housekeeper, Clementine Hunter while we ate. She always had a great story to tell of life on the plantation. I had no idea who this woman was at that time. She was just a friendly woman who made sure we did our job right. I had no idea she painted. I wasn’t into art at all back then. I only wanted to be a rodeo clown or a trapeze artist. Great career goals, right. I didn’t become interested in art until I went off to college.
As we ate, I often saw over in a corner of the room, a small table, and stacks of cardboard paintings with a note saying 25 cents. There were also brushes and paint on the table. My ignorance thought maybe it was the work of a child that Miss Clementine kept. I did think they were interesting, but I paid little attention and never once thought about buying one or more of the colorful paintings. What a shame!
One of the buildings I remember spraying was the African House and never once did I imagine that she was the one painting those murals. I saw a wall upstairs that was unfinished and remarked that I thought it was nice to let the children decorate this building, which was probably, in my mind at least, a child’s playhouse.
Years later after I discovered art, I became a vendor on the grounds for the Melrose Arts and Crafts Festival selling my paintings and pen and ink notecards. When I had a break, I wandered around the grounds looking at other vendors work. I came upon Clementine Hunter sitting in front of the African House with some of her paintings. She was popular by this time. It dawned on me that this was the Clementine Hunter that fed me. I looked about thinking what a fool I had been. I decided to talk with her while people milled about taking her picture. I told her my name and how I had worked for my daddy’s pest control spraying Melrose once a month. I told her how much I enjoyed those meals. She looked at me for a long time before she finally said she remembered me. We had a pleasant visit, and I got a hug.
I will always regret that I never owned a
Clementine Hunter painting. That I didn’t
have the sense to have purchased several of her works for twenty-five cents
each on those days we treated the plantation. I do have wonderful memories, however...and they are priceless.
