BLACKSTONE, Va. — For more than 60 years, Blackstone painter William Clarke has been sharing experiences of life in rural Virginia through his artwork.
From pencil to pastel, the 72-year-old carefully selects the tools in which bring his artwork to life.
"This knife helps bring the highlights out," explained Clarke.
His process is well-oiled and perfected entirely inside a 200-square-foot room.
“I paint like a machine," Clarke laughed. "I put them up, and I like to do all of the skies, then the ground."
Clarke’s dream of becoming an artist was born inside his parent's first home when he was just six years old. He still lives in that house, but today he calls it his studio.
"I’ve always been in Nottoway," said Clarke. "This is home.”
In this small county, art isn’t exactly a well-worn career path chosen by many students.
“We didn't even have an art class where I went," he noted. "We had industrial art.”
Clarke graduated from Luther H. Foster High School in 1970, the final year of segregated schools in Nottoway County.
"We were blessed in a way because we was taught by good Black teachers," he explained. "And they never taught us to be mean or hateful, but they taught us to have pride in ourselves."
After high school, Clarke worked at a grocery store and lumber company, but, in 1994, he finally followed his passion full-time.
His genre, folk art, allows him to share what he knows best — religion and rural Virginia.
“I said well, Lord I could do baptism," he noted. "I could do what I grew up on. I do a lot of paintings of old country stores, and that’s because of my time working for a grocery store."
Clarke enjoyed early success. His artwork was hanging in galleries nationwide. He sold a painting of Martin Luther King Jr. for $10,000. His clients even include former governors and senators.
"God blessed me with a good career," he smiled.
Now, his painting “Higher Ground” hangs in Capitol Square.
"William Clarke's artwork stood out as exceptionally special," explained Virginia First Lady Suzanne Youngkin.
She selected Clarke as one of the first artists for the "The Art Experience at the Executive Mansion." The exhibition aims at portraying the spirit of Virginia, and includes a mix of genres and mediums with a focus on Virginia artists and themes.
"I think William Clarke is telling the stories that so many African American Virginians can identify with and celebrate," Youngkin noted.
But Clarke is taking his message beyond the canvas.
"God didn't want me to paint," said Clarke. "He wanted me to help people. So I took my little voice I have as an artist, and I knew I would lose some clients over it, but I had to do what was right.”
He speaks out against injustices on a national level.
“Racism, black or white, is just something I just don't deal with at all," Clarke expressed.
But he also works to make change at home. Clarke regularly attends Blackstone Town Council meetings, Nottoway School Board and Board of Supervisors meetings, speaking up on behalf of neighbors afraid to use their voice.
“So many people come to me with complaints, and I just receive them," he explained. "It’s just me translating. I'm just passing the message along."
“I think William became the spokesman now because they know him," said Blackstone Town Councilman Nathaniel Miller.
Clarke advocates for more affordable housing and resources for children in Nottoway. He even organizes voting rights and restoration events.
"We just want everybody to take their God-given gift, and we want everybody to be able to vote," he explained.
But his latest mission is helping to establish the Life Changing Community Center, which is a nonprofit youth center in Blackstone that opens the door for children to learn and play while their parents work.
"This my baby man," he said tearfully. "Some of them [kids] say I like coming here, and that brings joy to you because it’s just a place of peace, quiet, and they know they are secure."
"It means a whole lot to just tell him to have somebody that's dedicated to art," councilman Miller noted. "And the way he works with kids, he's an asset.”
Clarke's activism prevents him from painting full-time these days, but he still made sure to create a few new pieces for Blackstone’s first art gallery, In Town Art.
"It makes you proud because you represent your hometown, and make you're hometown proud," he said.
William Clarke has painting in his blood and a heart that beats for Blackstone.
“I’m hoping that one day the legwork that I'm doing will help someone do better in their life."
