Clyde Farnell. Sculptor. Painter. Cornerbrook, Newfoundland. Active mid-late 20th century.
Clyde Farnell was known for his paintings and constructions; often using Popsicle sticks and other ‘as found’ materials. Shown below is a painting of a battleship framed in part with painted sticks. (1970’s). He rarely signed his work. But his crowning achievement was the interior of his house. Referred to locally as “The Sticks and Stones House” he spent the last 25 years of his life decorating it using tiny stones and Popsicle sticks-thousands and thousands of them – as well as every kind of “as found’ object – from bottle tops to car grills. (He bought the Popsicle sticks from the neighborhood children.) He created patterns every where in the house and made three dimensional scenes that covered the walls. When Clyde Farnell passed away the local authorities declared his house a Museum.
Clyde Farnell. Painting of a battleship:
Clyde Farnell. Cornervrook, Newfoundland. Painting of a battleship.
A link to a site that features Clyde Farnell’s Sticks and Stones House/Museum:
http://www.bongoboy.com/travels/stix/index1.htm
Ref: Blake McKendry, An Illustrated Companion to Canadian Folk Art (1999).
