Steven Rhude - Paintings/Drawings

  "You may think that the equation is 'boat and water.' It's not. It's 'money and boat.' The water is not really necessary. That's why you see so many boats in backyards." E.Annie Proux - The Shipping News                                          Man on a Boat, oil on masonite, 26.5" x 17", Steven Rhude My first memory of being on a boat was as a four year old. My aunt and uncle were on their way to view a cottage on an island in the Kawartha Lakes in Ontario. The day was cold and overcast as I hid under the bow of a open cedar strip smacking along choppy waters. I didn't escape my wooden prison until we pulled into a boathouse smelling of engine fuel and moldy jackets. The cottage was acquired and later in the summer my image of the boat changed after being woken from my bunk at midnight to a full moon, and then to be blanketed and paddled around a lake as smooth as glass in or...

The Great Auk's ghost rose on one leg,  Sighed thrice and three times winkt,  And turned and poached a phantom egg  And muttered,  "I'm extinct." Ralph Hodgson  1871 - 1962                        Great Auk (Henry Drummond's Vision), oil on masonite, 20" x 20", Steven Rhude Colonel H. M. Drummond was a highly respected Ornathologist. In December 1852, eight years after the Great Auk was supposedly extinct, Henry was sailing home for Christmas. Good old Henry spotted what he thought was a Great Auk off the coast of Newfoundland. The following year a dead bird was allegedly found washed up on the shores of Trinity Bay on the eastern side of Newfoundland. This account is from Eric Fuller's book The Great Auk. Science has little patience for ghosts, and Henry had no camera or an eye witness to back up his claim - only his word and his vision. I on the other hand, had a great specimen skeleton from the Rooms ...

                                                       From Red Head Cove, oil on canvas, 30" x 64", Steven Rhude He was born in the Cove. They said he was tough as boiled owl. They were right, but from my own perspective, I saw a different individual. Admittedly, more than one brawl provided a brick or two to his reputation as a solid wall of community respect - but he was young back then. He did a number of things to earn his keep and he was feared no matter what the job was. Once he went shrimping to Greenland and  told a crew member who was praying on his knees in the wheel house during a life or death storm, to "get back to your post." If you crossed him it was wise to leave town, if you were his friend you could sleep at night knowing your traps were safe.  As a young man he divided his time between the boat and the fish plant up the...