ANDRÉE HUDSON
Freedom and Structure
“Iwas always interested in the anatomy of everything,” says Andrée Hudson. “I’ve been doing portraits since I was a kid.” The acrylic painter used to be a medical illustrator, so her grasp on human and animal forms is practically impeccable. “Anatomically I think I’m a good draftsman and I like that type of work, but it just felt so tight. I felt like I didn’t have enough freedom as a medical illustrator,” she says. When she began painting, it was like the gates to a new world had opened up—she felt like she could exaggerate features, elongate the figure and tap into her own imagination. “You have to know how something is constructed before being able to deconstruct it,” Hudson adds.
Canyon Road Contemporary Art in Santa Fe, New
Mexico, hosts an exhibition from September 6 to 15 featuring new works by Hudson that seem to be tied together by a sense of nostalgia for the work she used to do. Hudson explains that she felt this sentiment particularly while creating pieces like Orange Rose, a portrait of a cowgirl wearing a red blouse, and the equine portrait Mischief, adding that the two works match each other on a tonal level.
“For me it’s interesting as a painter, I’m free and my brushstrokes have life to them,” Hudson says. She hopes viewers will create their own stories about her works and fill in the blanks themselves. While most paintings in the show are portraits, Hudson has a few pieces where she’s experimenting with different color palettes.
“I’m painting a lot of longhorn cows in my studio right now, and recently I was trying to limit my palette,” she explains. “So before I had a lot of purples and blues, and I’ve kind of narrowed them in now. I don’t know why, but I’ve been going back to more natural colors in my environments...I’m thinking of them as one unit instead of separate individual cows. [I’m] going back to how the cows actually look, using colors in a more traditional [style].” These works hark back to the oil paintings she used to create, which were more traditional.
Nowadays, however, it’s all about the acrylics. She says, “I can have a lot more energy with it, and I can layer my paintings more quickly.” Hudson adds that she loves painting in front of people and thrives off the positive energy.
An opening reception will be held on September 6 from 5 to 7 p.m., as well as an artist demonstration the following day from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“Andrée Hudson was formally trained as a medical illustrator, her first career.
Her detailed knowledge of muscular and skeletal structures inform her work even now, lending accuracy to her loose and dramatic brushstrokes...Andrée captures living and
breathing beings honestly and directly, calling into view their nature and souls.”
– Nancy Ouimet, owner, Canyon Road Contemporary Art
Canyon Road Contemporary Art
622 Canyon Road • Santa Fe, NM 87501 • (505) 983-0433 www.canyoncontemporary.com