photo by Chrissy Alspaugh
Thom Robinson at Home in Brown County
~ by Chrissy Alspaugh
Every nail in every board brings artist Thom Robinson closer to home.
But to have seen him over the last 30 years eating Saturday morning breakfasts at the Artists Colony Inn, buying groceries in Brown County IGA, and spending the better part of most weeks painting along ditches of every bend in Brown County, it’ s hard to believe Robinson never has lived closer than a 50-minute drive to the only place he said he’ s ever really belonged.
He is a plein-air painter who drove past the same for-sale Brown County woods for 15 years before finally buying the property with his wife, Pat, in 2011. He is constructing the 640-square-foot start of an eventually larger cabin mostly himself, and hopes to have the space livable by this fall.
The couple lived in Bedford from the 1970s until about two years ago, when they followed Pat’ s job to Indianapolis. They frequently stay overnight with friends in Brown County, but Robinson said having a place of their own in the community can’ t happen soon enough.
For the last year, Robinson’ s navy blue Jeep has spent more time waiting for him to return with hammers and lumber than canvasses and easels.
His insistence on quality and attention to detail has slowed the cabin’ s construction. It’ s the same affliction he faces with his paintings.
“ If I’ m going to take the time to do something, I’ m going to do it right,” Robinson said, removing his black wire-rims to wipe the lenses.
That’ s not to say he is always satisfied with his finished products. Robinson keeps meticulous count of his paintings, and he averages 60“ keepers” per year. Another 40 or so will have been scraped off their canvasses, thrown away or kept only because some aspect of the painting may provide inspiration in the future.
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22 Our Brown County • May / June 2014