Old Buildings

Thurman's Guitar and Violin Repair (Kent, OH)   oil/canvas   10 x 20 x 1.5

Thurman's Guitar and Violin Repair on Franklin Avenue in Kent has always held such fascination for me.  I drive past it en route to the post office.  It is a rather dark building with no signs of life within.  Dark.  Mysterious. Wonder regarding the person who has chosen this as his life's work. And the lives of precious instruments housed therein.

It is such a small niche in the complexities of the everywhere flashy businesses we see daily.  It may speak of a simpler time, where neighborhoods housed small businesses to meet the needs of the local community.  

Throughout my painting career, I always procrastinate when it comes to the landscape genre, which has never held much interest to me.  (Shhhh...don't tell the students who come to my classes)  When the landscape assignment rotated around again, I searched quite a long time to find the photo reference shot many years ago.  And, I gotta say, IF we can squeeze this painting into the landscape genre at all, this is my favorite attempt of all times.  Things were kept simple.  Unnecessary elements were squelched.  

I am pleased.  And, by the way, after searching online, I have realized that this business is still in operation.  So....next time you need your guitar or violin repaired........... 

Hidden Symmetry - Another Lost Landmark (and the difference between a simile and metaphor)

Hidden Symmetry   oil/canvas   48 x 24 x 1.5

Oh-so-many years ago when passing down our main county road, I constantly marveled at this charming spire.  There were two on the rooftop of the dilapidated barn, one at each end.  I continually made mental notes to photograph them before gravity had its way.  

Eventually I did and two paintings resulted. From the time I was a child, certain objects had an animation to me...perhaps the result of too many Disney movies...Fantasia to be exact.  It is almost as if we are witness to the struggle of this spire's attempts at staying erect.  As time marches on, and being a woman of a certain age, I see myself in this struggle and view this architectural detail as a human version of myself.  Simile.

Both spires were removed weeks after photos were taken.  The spires remained on the ground for years, I believe.  They are no longer.

For inquiries about this work, please contact Hudson Fine Art and Framing.

Market and High...

Market and High...a sketch

Yesterday morning I sat outside of the Akron Art Museum for an hour handing out postcards for Summit Artspace to museum-goers. The goal is for more area art-lovers to realize the existence of area artists, where they work and where they exhibit. I really had no idea that so many people visited the museum before noon! Of course, it was a free Sunday Sampler and an exhibit of Chuck Close, a combination that is hard to resist. The presence of window washers(on Sunday?) using an outrageously loud lift made it hard to talk and to concentrate. So, when possible, I retreated into my own visual world, where I find stimulation and comfort both. I concentrated on the old part of the building and drew some of the ornamentation which was vastly affected by the changing light. Whoa....here come some people. Letting go of drawings is so very hard for me. I never want to leave that mind arena. By noon I had handed out scads of postcards and had finished a small drawing. The drawing will be ever incised into my memory.....I hope that the recipients of those cards have that same endless-joyful-feeling as they take in the work at the Akron Art Museum. I also hope that many of them will find a new venue to explore in Summit Artspace.