Carol W. Hubbard

Exeter - Carol enjoyed a beautiful life. An artist to her core, sharing her craft brought her immense joy and purpose. Spending each day in creative pursuit kept her out of trouble. Born and raised in Fairfield, CT, she graduated from Roger Ludlowe High School in Fairfield where she stood out in sports and as the lead majorette. Earning a BFA from Syracuse University in Design, she became a self-taught watercolorist. Never a dull moment, she built her world around her vision. Boating dates with Arthur “Bud” Hubbard were varied as in 4AM sittings in a duck-blind on Long Island Sound which ended up with a taxidermized duck or dinner. Her day job was drafting helicopter engines for the engineers at Sikorsky Aircraft where Bud also worked. Building a boat together in a rental house was only problematic in hiding its removal by taking out the living room window before the landlord would notice. No house project was a match for her personal touch. He would tease that she had “Webster-ed” something that was not going to hold up but she watched him in the workshop and learned. Reclaiming furniture, making stained glass windows and tending gardens made a unique house a home. When parenting gave her freedom to pursue self-employment, she quickly rose to competition artist and sought-after teacher juggling five classes of four students each week. Many a summer day she would take we kids on a photo hunt for “reference” to paint. Into the woods, at the beach or old barns which she would joke was a sure way to know that it would soon collapse or burn down. Trips to galleries around New England to deliver her work exposed we kids to what it meant to be driven by your passion. Daughter Laura remembers being bribed with dimes to sit for portrait practice when Carol dabbled in various art mediums. In the house the smell of linseed oil and turpentine from oil painting gave way to perfecting her technique in watercolor with the addition of an art studio designed with just the right lighting from the north. Though the once quiet dirt road and active railroad has evolved to a busy throughfare and popular rail trail, she loved her Monroe community, becoming a regular at local breakfast eateries and her favorite hardware store. Carol hit the big time in 1981 winning the Traveling Show Award in the American Watercolor Society. She quickly added to her success membership at the American Artists’ Professional League of New York City, the Northshore Art Association of Gloucester, MA, the CT Watercolor Society and the Kent Art Association. Carol’s paintings have been bought for corporate collections, the Danbury Mint, Heublein and more. Laura remembers at 13 years old walking the hall of St. Vincent’s Hospital and seeing an oil of her 6-year-old image hanging there. Winning awards funded the entry fees and shipping fees to shows to satisfy her “gambling addiction,” that is, studying what a particular show’s jury might favor. A generation of students stayed for decades, some going on in the profession but always leaving as friends. Carol was known for her descriptive language…some stand-out area of a painting was a referred to as the “lady in the red dress.” There were “happy accidents” and the “bee’s knees.” Highly anticipated year-end class parties welcomed all together where their work would be displayed instead of hers in the home where she lived and worked for 65 years. When asked what kept her aging gracefully, she would claim it was the Swedish roots, mixing life up with square dancing, racquetball and tennis, painting excursions to Monhegan Island, Maine and Italy, good conversation about cultures, love of family, friends and always having a cat or two. She juggled it all and had a marvelous time. Success followed her right up to a “Best in Show” win as recent as 2023. Challenges later in life were met with the adage “this too shall pass” … you just need to paint in your head to find contentment. She left much beauty behind on this earthly palette after slowing down these last few years but always putting just one more brush stroke to paper or giving one more instruction by email to her dedicated students. Predeceased by her husband 25 years ago and her parents, Edgar Ferdinand Webster and Agda Antoinette (Jensen) she is now reunited in Heaven also with her brother, Parker Everett who was 16 years her senior. She leaves her son, John Parker Hubbard, daughter Laura Sinclair (Mark), grandchildren Phillip Hubbard, Allison Johnson (Thomas), Benjamin Sinclair (Julia), great grandchildren, Wesley Thomas and Miles Parker…some artists in their own right but all who gave her such joy. Her warm smile and generous ways will be greatly missed. Plans for a Celebration of Life for family, friends and former art students will be held in the future in CT. In lieu of flowers, please be welcomed to donate to your charity of choice.

Carol W. Hubbard

June 23, 1932 - December 26, 2024