The "A Few Lancaster Treasures: Part II" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Leafing through a few more posts on "The Lancasterian" Facebook page when I came across another very interesting post that told the story of a relatively unknown Lancaster County artist by the name of Helen Cleland.  Helen and her husband, James, arrived in Lancaster County in 1955 and lived in both Akron and Lititz, nearby small towns.  Helen met and studied under local famed artist C.X. Carlson whom influenced her work.  Helen's best work came primarily between 1965 and 1969.  She preferred watercolor rather than oil, but she did a have a few oil paintings among her best work.  

Helen Cleland with one of her paintings.

Her paintings were executed in vibrant colors and featured traditional Lancaster County scenes which included farm and Amish scenes.  She did paint a few of the local historical sites such as Tritiny Lutheran Church, Ephrata Cloisters, Hans Herr House, Cornwall Iron Furnace and the Donegal Presbyterian Church.  Her work could be found at the Amish Farm and House on the Lincoln Highway and at the gift shop at the former Brunswick Hotel in Downtown Lancaster.  If you studied her work you would see the influence that C.X. Carlson had on her artistic development.  The prints that I have included in this story are paintings within the archive and library of History of Lancaster Rediscovered who owns more than 50 of Helen Cleland's paintings.  My mother took up watercolor painting in her later life and her work resembled that of Grandma Moses.  If you stretch it a bit, you might be able to see some of the work of Helen Cleland in my mother's painting also.  At least in my eyes!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

This watercolor and the three that follow were painted by Helen Cleland.

This final watercolor painting was done my my mother Dorothea Woods.