Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
WINONA LAKE - He's burnin' 'em.
"The Rescue of Opal Whitaker," "Twenty Strong" "First Defense," "Spring in Cowboy Heaven" and others are all going up in flames.
The reason, according to artist Robert Hudson, is because he has a new style of painting. The large oil paintings with cowboys and Indians and their horses and seaside and lakeshore depictions will go up in flames Feb. 1.
"I'm purging the system," he said of the large paintings in his Village at Winona studio. "The more I paint with this style and technique, the more I don't want these around anymore."
When Hudson moved here from Idaho two years ago, he began drawing seriously again. There was something about the black-and-white portraits - be models human or horse - he felt was missing from the oil paintings. The details given by the pencil weren't evident in the oils.
He's settled on a glazing technique now and thinks the only limit he'll face "is my desire to do it."
"The detail, the edges, the quality of light is so powerful. I'm going to perfect it. I'm learning with every painting, and in two years the work will be world-class."
The new technique is much quieter so far.
A herd of deer sifts through high grass at the edge of a woods.
Another small herd, this one of sun-streaked horses and colts, lounges under cottonwood trees at high noon.
It's as if Hudson has to contain his excitement about this fresh approach. A lake worked up by the wind to sailing strength is too much at this point, let alone an epic Indian battle based at the foot of towering mountains.
But these scenes will come and viewers will have their equilibrium tested when they do.
The old work will hit the barrel in front of the 803 E. Canal St. gallery at noon.
For more information, call Hudson at 267-8737.
