130_ND20

Marieluise Hutchinson

Cape Cod Life  /  November/December 2020 / ,

Writer: Christina Galt

Marieluise Hutchinson

130_ND20

Cape Cod Life  /  November/December 2020 / ,

Writer: Christina Galt

“Comfort and Joy”

Local artist Marieluise Hutchinson finds endless inspiration in the ever-changing seasons and vast landscapes of New England. Drawn to the countryside, her paintings evoke the simplicity of silence and with her skilled hand, Hutchinson will transport you to a serene, rustic scene of New England’s past.

Marieluise Hutchinson, a self-taught artist who first picked up a paintbrush in her late twenties, has evolved into a prominent figure in the New England art world. Hutchinson has a permanent collection at the Cahoon Museum of American Art and the Cape Cod Museum of Art. She is also a Copley Master at the Copley Society of Boston, a Master Artist at the Cape Cod Art Association and a member of the Cape Cod Museum of Art.

April, “Carter’s Barn”, Yarmouth Port, 16×12, oil

In 2019 she won the United Way award for Volunteerism and Leadership for her Christmas card project benefitting Cape Cod’s A Baby Center. For 13 years, Hutchinson has released an annual card design to benefit the center, whose mission is to serve local parents of infants in need of assistance, by providing critical supplies to ensure a better quality of life for children. This annual card fundraiser is specifically to provide diapers for those babies in need. 

This year’s card, entitled “Comfort and Joy,” transports you to a quintessential winter evening detailed with a red pickup, a friendly snowman and even a family dog. Hutchinson explains, “Over the years the details have gotten more involved. I wanted to make this year’s card extra festive.” Most of her paintings typically don’t include people, but she’s found it’s been popular to include them in her Christmas pieces. Hutchinson usually begins to work on the new card for the year in January. “I focus on whatever charity I’m doing at the time and think about what would make a really nice card for them,” she says. Hutchinson first began making these cards for hospice care and then went on to create them for Child and Family Services, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, the Pine Tree Society, the Housing Assistance Corporation of Cape Cod, Cape Abilities, and now, A Baby Center. 

“Summon the Summer”, 24×18, oil

Growing up in Hanover, Massachusetts certainly sculpted Hutchison into the artist she is today, and the countryside remains an inspiration for her oil on panel landscapes. Hutchinson says, “I love New England and the architecture, I really could never paint anywhere else.” Almost all of her paintings include a barn or a vast landscape she has stumbled upon with her 35mm camera, “It’s getting harder to find these places. These beautiful old buildings and vistas are becoming lost,” she says. “I think that artists are record keepers of what’s been.”

Hutchinson’s favorite quote by French impressionist Edgar Degas, “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see,” truly echoes within her work. She says, “I see people getting up close, almost nose to nose to see what’s going on in the windows in my paintings. I think people can relate to living in a house like that, playing in the snow and hiking in the woods. I’m grateful for the fact that people can relate to what I create.” Hutchinson’s work sincerely represents the welcoming simplicity of home and the nostalgia for the past, feelings that resonate with everyone.

Cards are available at A Baby Center in Hyannis and on our website, shop.capecodlife.com. Visit ababycenter.org or call 508-771-8157 to learn more. Marieluise Hutchinson is represented by Tree’s Place Gallery in Orleans or check out marieluisehutchinson.com.

Learn more about A Baby Center here!

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Christina Galt

Christina Galt is the Digital Editor at Cape Cod Life Publications. Born and raised on the Cape, Christina has always had a love for the ocean and everything "Cape Cod." She found herself the perfect home away from home at the University of Rhode Island and double majored in Sociology and Gender & Women’s Studies. After graduating, Christina came back to the Cape and started her journey at Cape Cod Life. She spends most of her free time with her family, especially her chocolate lab Sadie, and enjoys spending summers on her family’s boat.