Painting for me is a sort of communion. I paint in the midst of the landscape knowing that eyes are not enough. I wish for total immersion: touch, smell, sound, and the awareness of the swift flight of the sun.
My original intent was to be a biological illustrator. As a very poor student at the University of Kansas, I drew pickled reptiles to keep myself in school. Mercifully, I came under the influence of Albert Bloch. I took whatever traditions I could digest and forgot what didn't set well. This didn't always fit well with the art fashions and I had some difficulty both as a teacher and artist. I took the quest very seriously. All my readings, my love of natural world and music, I tried to turn into paint. In the beginning I was influenced by the styles of other European master painters. But, as time elapsed I found my own distinct style of painting that best connected me to nature and forces around me. Nature is a screen upon which I cast my dreams and has a sense of privacy. Even though Kansas was in my blood, I went to northern California in the summer months and to Europe every sabbatical I could manage. But, almost unknown to me, the visual metaphors of Kansas landscape grew stronger and its common places more haunting. It became a part of my Identity. Robert N. Sudlow
The view of the Vinland Valley is gorgeous. I think Kansas is beautiful. I crave the wide-open spaces. As a child, especially out on my dad’s land, on the farm, I appreciated the sunset from five years of age. It has always been a part of my life. I start to get grouchy when I don’t connect with it. Andrea Moreau / Lawrence, Kansas
If you take the levy along Clinton Lake, you get to a point where you have to turn. If you turn right you go past Wakarusa Valley School. You can take that loop all the way around Clinton Lake. You see so many things that look purely Kansas—the homes, the farms, and places that look untouched. The loop ends up at Stull, which gets you back to Sixth Street to come back to Lawrence. I usually drive this loop when I’m upset. It takes about 45 minutes to get through the whole thing. After 45 minutes by yourself looking at beautiful things moving, even though you may end up where you started, usually you are in a different mindset by the time you have made it through the whole loop. Margaret Perkins-McGuinness / Lawrence, Kansas
Robert Sudlow was born in Holton, Kansas, in 1920. From 1938 to 1942, he attended the University of Kansas, studying drawing and painting with Albert Bloch, Karl Mattern, and Raymond Eastwood. Upon graduation from the University of Kansas, he served in the United States Navy as a seaplane pilot and was discharged as Lieutenant, Senior Grade. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for service in the Western Pacific Theater in World War II. He taught at the University of Kansas from 1945 until his retirement in 1987. Sudlow continues to live and work in Lawrence, Kansas.