GRACE AND JOHN HUDSON'S WORK

GRACE HUDSON LIVED FROM 1865-1937 AND WAS AN ARTIST WHO PAINTED OVER 600 OIL PAINTINGS OF THE POMO IN UKIAH AREA. HER PAINTINGS ARE A TRIBUTE TO THE SPIRIT OF THESE PEOPLE. HER HUSBAND, JOHN, QUIT HIS DENTIST BUSINESS AND DEVOTED THE REST OF HIS LIFE COLLECTING THEIR BASKETS AND STUDYING THEIR CULTURE.

SHE KNEW THE POMO AS A YOUNG CHILD GROWING UP IN POTTER VALLEY. PRIOR TO THE SETTLERS, THE POMOS HAD LIVED RELATIVELY UNDISTURBED FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. THERE WERE MORE THAN 72 CLOSE KNIT GROUPS IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. THE HUDSON'S KNEW THEY HAD A COMPLEX SOCIETY AND WERE NATURALISTS.THEY DREW THEIR LIVELIHOOD FROM THE LAND AND KNEW HOW TO KEEP THEIR EDIBLE PLANTS BOUNTIFUL FOR THE FUTURE.

IN ADDITION TO HER PAINTINGS SHE INSTRUCTED HER POMO CHILDREN IN ART AND MUSIC. SHE HAD TWINS AND THEY ENJOYED A PET FOX AND OTHER ANIMALS. SHE HAND TINTED PORTRAITS TO DEVELOP HER ABILITY TO PAINT FACES WITH STUNNING REALISM AND EXPRESSION. SHE STUDIED ART AT THE SCHOOL OF DESIGN IN SAN FRANCISCO IN 1884.

GRACE MARRIED JOHN AS HER SECOND MARRIAGE IN 1890. THEY FIRST LIVED WITH HER PARENTS. THEY FREQUENTLY PASSED POMO WOMEN GATHERING WILLOW SHOOTS AND DIGGING SEDGE ROOT FOR BASKETS. THEY LIKED HAVING LONG PICNICS AT PIETA CREEK WHERE THEY MADE PLANS FOR THE FUTURE. JOHN HAD READ WIDELY ABOUT THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE MISSISSIPI REGION AND HE ENJOYED THE NATIVES OF THE COUNTY. HE DEVELOPED A GOOD RAPPORT WITH POMO PATIENTS AND HE TOOK AN INTEREST IN THEIR BASKETRY. AND HE BEGAN WRITING DOWN AND STUDYING THEIR LANGUAGE. HE LEARNED EVERYTHING ABOUT HOW THEY MADE BASKETS. MANY OF THE REEDS THEY USED NEEDED MONTHS OF PREPARATION BEFORE THEY USED THEM FOR THE BASKET! ONE BASKET REQUIRTED 100 PLUMES OF QUAIL TOP NOT FEATHERS! THEY USE PRIMARILY ACORN WOODPECKER, QUAIL, MALLARD DUCK, AND MEADOW LARK.

JOHN RECORDED THAT THE POMO IN UKIAH PREPARED THEIR BURDEN BASKETS FOR THE 80 MILE JOURNEY TO BODEGA BAY IN COAST MIWOK AREA..IT OCCURRED AT LOW TIDE. THEY TRADED WITH THE MIWOK AND OBTAINED SALT AND OTHER COASTAL SHELLS AND RESOURCES.

GRACE RECOGNIZED THAT THE MOST MEMORABLE THINGS TO THE POMO WERE THEIR CHILDREN, THEIR BASKETS AND THEIR DOGS. SHE TOOK LONG WALKS AND MADE SKETCHES OF THE INDIAN CHILDREN AND THE COUNTRYSIDE.

IN 1896 JOHN ANNOUNCED THAT HE RETIRED FROM DENTISTRY AT THE AGE OF 38.
GRACE WENT TO HAWAII FOR SEVERAL MONTHS AND TRIED TO RESTORE HER ENERGY. AFTER HER RETURN HER DOCTOR REPORTED SHE HAD THYROID CONDITION, AND SHE UNDERWENT TREATMENT. SHE OFTEN WAS WITH OTHERS WHILE SHE PAINTED IN THE SUN HOUSE AND THEY HAD DINNER PARTIES.

LANSON AND TETZLAFF