Category: Vermilion, OH

Invisible art

Whenever I go to mass (I don’t go as often as I should), I’m alert to the art in the church. Last winter, we made our first visit to Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral, which is seat of the archdiocese of Toledo, Ohio. The cathedral is resplendent with mosaics of every kind.…

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Tom Hudson

I spent the past the several days drawing. Yesterday I started drawing on 2 new canvases: Euclid Avenue (48″ x 60″), and Sunday (42″ x 56″). The day before, I started the 40″ x 50″ Girl in Purple Boots. This furious drawing is, in part, the result of a screw-up. Several days back I started another 42″ x 56″ canvas called Watch. But it was a struggle. The surface wasn’t right–it wasn’t coming together. The next day, hoping that a fresh start would rectify things, was just as bad. Then it dawned on me: I selected the wrong-sized canvas. I was unsuccessfully trying to shoehorn my worked-out design into the wrong size and scale. No wonder it wasn’t coming together.  The design was intended for a 48″ x 60″ canvas. Duh.

I played with redesigning it but didn’t like the results. So I wiped off the drawing and put another ground on the canvas–I didn’t like the surface anyway. Although I really like the design for Watch, I decided to put it aside for awhile, and used the larger canvas for Euclid Avenue instead. I am putting the finishing touches on several other 48″ x 60″ canvases today and Watch will have to wait until those surfaces are ready.

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Tom Hudson

My son John and I left early yesterday morning for a visit to the University of Cincinnati. John, a senior in high school, plans to be a computer engineer and UC’s program is #2 in the state (behind OSU’s).

It was raining when we left; a freezing rain that made the roads treacherous. My F-150 with 4-wheel drive handled the icy roads with aplomb. We had no trouble during the hour it took to get to I-71 at Ashland. But over the first 60-mile stretch of I-71 we passed 13–13!–wrecks. At mile 131, Delaware City, i-71 turned into a parking lot. The traffic app on my Galaxy Note 4 (love that phone) informed us that I-71 was closed 9 miles ahead (9 mile traffic jam!) due to an accident.

We got off at Delaware City with over a 100 miles left to go. Unfortunately, everyone else on I-71 did the same and Delaware City was another parking lot. We jumped onto some uncharted back roads and took Route 42 south, where we hit I-70 a half-hour later.

We turned back east and got on I-71 south of Columbus where we ran into another traffic jam! Long story short, we missed our tour. John wasn’t interested in just stomping around the campus  We cancelled our trip and headed to Dayton where we had a delightful visit with my cousins, Homer King, his wife Becky and their children and grandchildren. We had such a wonderful time that it made up for the frustrating morning.

Homer lives near Wright State (my alma mater) so we did a quick tour. Wright State does have a computer engineering program but no dice–John isn’t interested.

New shed, old studio

Fall ended abruptly with light snow and bitter cold. Today’s high is 19. Here’s the new shed seen from the studio door–the old studio door. This shed enabled me to convert the garage into a studio. The old studio might look cluttered in this photo but it’s nearly emptied of paintings, canvases, and supplies. I…

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Me and the dog–the notorious Silky Terrier, Buddy–walked on the beach this morning. The violence of Lake Erie’s gales always surprises those unfamiliar with the Great Lakes. During storms, the lake is nothing like the placid oasis for pleasure boaters and fishermen that we hold in memory. It’s loud–a continuous roar. The legendary power of the waves smashing the shoreline is the bane of lakefront property owners.

Buddy and I walked down our rough steps and out onto the jetty, buffeted by the wind and soaked by the wave-tossed spray. After a short walk, Buddy had enough and we made for home. This gale is mild compared to those that will come soon.

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Tom Hudson

My new shed arrived two days ago.  The Amish builders erected the 10′ x 12′ building in 2.5 hours. They arrived at 6:30 AM (after driving 2 hours!). The shed enables me to convert the garage into a studio annex.  Its high ceiling will allow me to work on large paintings without accident. When a large painting fell from my old, rickety easel and got a hole punched in it earlier this summer, I knew I had to do something about my cramped studio. I converted a garage into a studio when we lived in Indian Mills, New Jersey. The new space along with my new easel will ease my work situation and provide more storage space. We are going to paint the shed today.

New easel

I am extremely happy with my new easel. It’s wider than my old workhorse easel and the mast expands higher, which means it can accommodate much larger paintings.  For as big as it is, it moves easily on its solid rollers.  There are stops next to each roller to keep it in place. It can…