Rosiland Clark loved animals, from insects to squirrels to cats and dogs.
“We’d have to put the fly swatter away when Rosie came to visit,” recalled longtime friend Nancy Kollock.
Clark loved her cars, too, naming her old Opels “Lemon” and “Whizz.” When Lemon became too old for the road, Clark kept Lemon and planted tomato seedlings in the cargo part of the old station wagon.
Her love of the Earth also extended to plants, Kollock said, and Clark would adopt discarded plants the way some people rescue homeless animals. “She loved gardening,” said Kollock.
Kollock met Clark at a boarding house on 16th Street, where about a dozen women lived during the 1950s under the watchful eye of a housekeeper who served them breakfast and dinner each day. The women had moved to the city and begun their careers.
“That was what young girls did back then. You went to the big city and lived in a boarding house,” said Kollock.
Clark, who had degrees from Salem College and Parsons School of Design, worked at Rich’s as an interior designer, her friend recalled. Later, Clark had her own children’s television show in Atlanta, playing a friendly witch named “Miss Boo.”
“There was no script,” recalled Kollock. “It was just Rosie.” Clark’s endearing, sweet personality drew children and adults to her, Kollock said.
Clark was best known, however, for her art, done on a scratchpad and with ink, to which she devoted herself for decades after she left “Miss Boo” behind.
Rosiland Clark, who turned 90 on Christmas Eve, 2015, died Feb. 18 from heart disease at the home of Nancy Kollock and the late John Kollock in Clarkesville, Ga. Her once-blond hair was braided into the trademark pigtails she had favored in older age.
Clark was the daughter of the late Brower Summerville Clark and Susie Mae Harry Clark of Marion, N.C.
She had no brothers or sisters.
Friends recalled a gentle woman full of fun, which she expressed in her art.
“She had so much joy, so much fun. She honored life, people, animals, insects, the Earth,” said Kollock.
A mentor encouraged Clark to name her pieces of art, and she took almost as much joy in creating the names as she did creating the artworks, said Atlanta art dealer John Tribble.
He recalled a drawing that featured a rabbit sitting atop a person’s head. “That was called ‘Haredo.’
Clark’s art was very popular, Tribble said, and always sure to sell. Clark knew that, Tribble said, and “any time she needed a repair on one of her old cars, she’d do a piece.”
“Every single generation of Atlantans has her work,” Tribble said. “She was an institution.”
Clark was one of the first artists to have a show at the Piedmont Arts Festival, Tribble said. Many of her works were displayed at the Swan Coach House over the years, Tribble said.
In 2010, Tribble hosted a retrospective exhibit of Clark’s artwork at his gallery on Miami Circle. More than 350 people attended, he said.
“She had a great time. She was wearing a 1940s French couture gown with little pearls on it, and the next day, there were pearls all over the floor from people hugging her,” Tribble said.
Clark’s body was cremated, and a marker will be placed by her parents’ graves in Marion, N.C., Kollock said.
In addition to her many friends, Clark is survived by a cousin, Alice Harry Watkins of Virginia Beach, Va.
Instead of a funeral, Clark wanted a big party with lots of chocolate ice cream. That is planned for a future date, Kollock said.
Clark also suggested, that, in lieu of flowers or other gifts, her memory may be honored “by displays of kindness to all (including the critters who crawl, slither, fly, pollinate and, in general, help to maintain a healthy balance in the world); telling a silly joke to a neighbor or buying locally grown produce.”
About the Author
