Baptist Church, East Dover, c.1940

Leo Blake’s painting is a winter scene of parishioners arriving at church, and there are a few extra clues in the painting as to what church was like in Vermont on a winter’s day. Lyman Orton can tell part of that story:

Some of the people we see here are arriving at the church by horse-drawn sleigh. Families that owned automobiles or trucks might have found their old sleigh to be better transportation on a steep, snow-packed road.

Leo Blake was originally from Galesburg, Illinois and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. After a short burst of work as a commercial artist, he turned to fine art. He lived and worked in Massachusetts in Berkshire County, and painted scenes throughout New England.