Written By Lisa Breslin

The artwork of Constance A. “Coni” Humphrey reflects the personality of its late creator: quirky, sensitive, refined and sometimes raucous and raw.

Throughout the month of December, the drawings and paintings that often mirrored those qualities will be on display at the Carroll Arts Center and then auctioned off to the highest bidders.

Before Humphrey died on April 28, 2007, at the age of 85, she asked her husband, David, to see that her works and art supplies were donated to the local arts center, and that proceeds from their sales would benefit the place that she loved to visit and for which she often volunteered.

Many of the pieces that will go on the block are pen and ink caricatures on paper that portray the whimsy in people’s chaotic lives. Others are oils on canvas or planks of wood that capture the tough, but rewarding lives of weather worn watermen and the peaceful beauty of the sea coast.

Throughout the summer and early autumn, Carroll County Arts Council board members and Visual Arts Coordinator Susan Williamson transported Humphrey’s collection from her Hazard Farm home in Westminster to the Carroll Arts Center, where it will be displayed and auctioned in December.

“It’s an honor to sift through her work,” Williamson said. “It is like we are seeing the soul of the artist within each piece.”

“She was an amazing woman,” said friend Carole Taylor. “She was talented, caring, generous and very exciting.”

A student of the Yale School of Fine Arts and a graphic artist, Humphrey was a political activist in Carroll County for many years and championed several causes that put her in the limelight. But for the most part, her friends say, she loved time at home where she entertained and tended to her peacocks, geese and Afghan hounds.

Her closest friends knew about her artwork mainly because after a dinner party or a social gathering, they received hand-drawn “Thank You” cards that included a self portrait or portraits of her dogs.

“Each of the cards included a play on words, which revealed her intellect,” said friend Becky Herrick as she gently fanned out her personal collection of more than 20 cards created by Humphrey. “It was exciting to be with her because she had such artistic flare. She saw life differently Nothing was mundane.”

Friends visited her home frequently and hoped that she would talk about, or even reveal, a few paintings or sketches. But when she was alive, Humphrey often dismissed her work as “doodles” and made it clear that she didn’t paint for praise.

She created promotional materials and “doodles” for the clubs that she belonged to — the local historical society, the humane society, the garden club — but she always created what friend Lyn Ingram described as “art without ego.”

The scope of the collection donated to the Carroll Arts Center spans several mediums including pen and ink drawings, pastels and oil paintings. It is difficult to put a value on each piece, said Williamson.

“She created works that won awards in Connecticut and here when she exhibited in membership shows. Also, her work moves easily from the sophisticated to the quirky so it really catches people’s attention,” Williamson said.

The entire collection, which also includes such supplies as bamboo pens, brushes, and even work jeans, will be sold “as is.”

Coni Humphrey’s work represents “not the end of an era in Carroll County, but close to it,” according to friends Charles and Ruth Shriver.

“Coni was a Ôcome-to-the-house’ kind of person,” Charlie said. “She loved everybody. She and her husband would host parties and there would be six or seven sets of croquet out on the lawn. The Kuhns, Babylons and Shrivers, among others would play off forever.

“She buoyed my spirits,” he added. “Especially through her artwork. Through her artwork, she still buoys people’s spirits.”

For information about the Coni Humphrey collection and the auction, call (410) 848-7272. – L.M.B.