Clementine Hunter

Louisiana's Most Famous Folk Artist. Clementine was a Creole, which means a mixture of five races: Austrian, French, Irish, Indian and African-American. She spoke a Creole dialect for many years until she married her second husband, Emanuel, who taught her English.

Clementine Hunter was born in 1886, at Hidden Hill - a cotton plantation close to Cloutierville, Louisiana.

Hidden Hill Plantation had a reputation. It was a harsh and difficult place to work and live. By the time Clementine turned five, her family moved to another

When she reached age fourteen, Clementine's family moved once again, this time to the Melrose Plantation

Miss Cammie, the plantation owner, desired to preserve the arts and crafts of the Cane River area, and over the years Melrose became a haven for many artists and writers. They came from all over to work in the quiet relaxing atmosphere, and all were encouraged by Miss Cammie.

Clementine and her family worked on the plantation in the cotton fields and the pecan groves.

Then, in 1928 Clementine was promoted from the fields to the house. She looked after the gardens and the laundry and she made clothes for Miss Cammie’s children and their dolls. She also created marvelous quilts in beautiful rich colors. It became clear that Clementine had hidden talents

For the next forty some years, Clementine produced 4000 paintings, each one telling a story of life as she saw it in a simple, straightforward way. She did not always have canvas so she used old window shades, bottles, cardboard and brown paper bags.

Clementine’s first oil painting “A Bowl of Zinnias”

Window Shade $40,500 Clementine Hunter's early paintings were done with left-over tubes of oil paint left at Melrose by the many artists who visited there, and Mrs. Rand helped provide Clementine with window shades and canvas boards to use for her work. Oddly enough, once Clementine had finished the paintings, she seemed to have no use for them and usually just gave them back to Mrs. Rand as gifts.

She was illiterate, but her paintings were her storybook - a storybook about everyday life on and around the plantation.