About JL Clarke
About JL Clarke
John Louis Clarke was born May 10th, 1881 in Highwood, Montana. At the age of two he became victim of scarlet fever making him permanently deaf and killing his four brothers.
Early Life
Career
Late Life
Education:
- Fort Shaw Indian Boarding School
- North Dakota School for the Deaf (1894)
- Montana Deaf and Dumb Asylum (1898)
- St. John’s School for the Deaf (1899)
He never received any type of formal education in relation to art or carving. After his school at the St. John’s School for the Deaf Clarke became a woodcarver in Milwaukee.
Carving:
John Louis Clark was originally born without the “e.” Not until the mid to late 1920’s did John start to carve his last name into his work as “Clarke.”
While John loved his home in East Glacier Park he was known to travel. Often times during the holiday seasons he would be found in the display window of the Paris department store in Great Falls, Montana.
John took a train ride to the Minnesota Zoo in order to draw and sketch new animals. Also notably seen in his carvings, John occasionally went to Portland Oregon to visit friends. In his late years he went to doctors appointments in Santa Barbara, California.
Personal Life:
In 1918 John married Mary “Mamie” Peters Simon at age 37. His wife then lead the business portion of John’s art career. Thirteen years later in 1931, John at the age of 50, adopted Joyce Clarke Turvey (age 3). From that point forward, Joyce and John were tied at the hip.
Due to the size of John Louis Clarke’s story, I have created a blog section to cover more in depth topics about his work, lifestyle and history. If you wish to learn more, please click here.