Judith Lodge facts for kids

Judith Lodge (born July 25, 1941) is an American and Canadian artist. She is known for her paintings and photographs. Judith often explores how these two art forms work together. Her art is called abstract, which means it doesn't show real-life things exactly as they look. Instead, her art shows memories, feelings, and ideas. She gets her ideas from dreams, her journals, and nature. Judith Lodge has lived and worked in many places, including Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto, Banff, Minnesota, and New York. She has lived in New York for over thirty years.

Early Life and Education

Judith Lodge was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She was one of four daughters. Her father, James, was a chemist who also enjoyed making pottery. He even built a small art studio in their home basement. From a young age, Judith loved to draw. She would bring a large pad of paper to class and ask people to make a mark. Then, she would create a drawing from it.

She studied at Macalester College in St. Paul and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1963. Later, she went to Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. She earned her Master of Fine Arts degree there in 1965. Judith was the only woman in her class of 12 students. After graduating, she visited New York City many times. She saw big art shows by famous artists like Alberto Giacometti and Francis Bacon. These shows greatly influenced her art.

Artistic Journey

In 1972, Judith Lodge moved to Vancouver, Canada. She lived there for ten years. During this time, her art became less about drawing real figures and more abstract. She had her first art show with only abstract works in 1977. This show was at the Surrey Art Gallery. Judith thought she might go back to drawing figures, but she became very interested in the new ways she could create abstract art.

Nature was a big inspiration for her. She spent time on an island near Vancouver, which belonged to a friend. There, she explored landscapes and the idea of water. In 1980, Judith moved back to the United States, settling in New York. Even though she left Vancouver, she still tries to bring the feeling of nature from British Columbia into her art.

Judith believes that dreams and our unconscious mind can bring ideas to us. She started painting mandalas (circular designs) before she found out she had cancer. After her diagnosis and treatment, she felt a connection to trees that had been hit by fire but were still alive. She photographed these damaged arbutus trees in a series called Trees Hit by Lightening and Other Fires.

Art Style

Judith Lodge creates large abstract artworks. Some of her paintings are as big as 10 by 16 feet! Her style is partly inspired by abstract expressionism from the 1950s. This art movement focuses on expressing emotions through abstract forms.

She often uses a painterly style. This means she builds up thick layers of acrylic paint. The paint can be so thick that it looks almost three-dimensional. It might remind you of veins or muscles on skin. She builds up this texture in several steps, sometimes reworking parts of the painting.

Judith often uses metallic gold in her art, especially in her "Life Jackets" and "Walls of Eden" shows. Gold is a symbol of things that are pure and special. Her art often has a strong grid pattern, which you can see in her large "Walls of Eden" works.

Main Ideas in Her Art

Judith Lodge's paintings show how the line between what we are aware of (conscious) and what we are not (unconscious) can be blurry. She uses images from nature, life, and dreams in her art.

Some of the other big ideas she explores in her work include:

• How different areas of change can meet and overlap.
• The idea of things that last forever and things we can't touch or see.
• Showing the energy of life, what she sees, feels, and remembers.
• The idea that beauty is not always the same.
• Beauty that has a hint of fear or decay.

She once said that as an artist, she found that life isn't like a candy jar with endless choices. Instead, there are a few main ideas that artists focus on. She remembered seeing a painting by Paul Gauguin called Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going. She was amazed that a painting could ask such deep questions about life. This idea that there are big, important subjects to explore in our dreams and myths is a key part of her art.

Teaching and Professional Work

Judith Lodge has also been a teacher and visiting artist at many schools and universities. She taught painting and drawing at places like Skidmore College and the Banff School of Fine Arts. She also taught at the University of Victoria and the University of British Columbia. From 1993 to 2006, she was an Associate Chair of Illustration at Parsons School of Design in New York.

Art Shows

Judith Lodge has had many art exhibitions where her work was shown to the public. Here are some of them:

• 1971 - Hathorn Gallery, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York
• 1972 - Wheelock College, Boston, Massachusetts
• 1973-1975 - Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia
• 1977 - Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, British Columbia
• 1977 - "Walls of Eden" - Pender Street Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia
• 1977 - "From This Point of View" (Group Show), Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia
• 1978 - "Targets" - Victoria Art Gallery, Victoria, British Columbia
• 1978 - "Fire, Smoke, Water, Ice" - Art Core, Vancouver, British Columbia
• 1979 - "Rites of Passage" - Art Core, Vancouver, British Columbia
• 1984 - "Recent Drawings and Paintings" - Peter Whyte Gallery, Banff, Alberta
• 1986 - "Life Jackets" - University of British Columbia Fine Arts Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia

Awards and Collections

Judith Lodge has received a Canada Council Grant for her work. Her art is also part of many important collections, meaning her pieces are owned by museums and galleries. These include:

• Canada Council Art Bank
• Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
• National Gallery of Canada
• Vancouver City Collection
• British Columbia Provincial Collection
• Private Collections in New York City
• Citibank Collection
• Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery