I’ve recently become acquainted with artist Frank Loudin through BJ Arnold’s friendship with him, and as always, it’s fascinating to learn about a new friend’s life experiences. I didn’t know a thing about him until I got one of my COVID vaccines at Orcas Center. For the 15-minute wait period afterward, before we were allowed to leave, I was sitting in a chair and staring at the walls of Orcas Center, which happened to be covered with Frank’s art. I was lost in other thoughts until I became conscious of what my eyes were seeing. I began dissecting the paintings, analyzing whether his linear perspective, shadowing, and sizing of objects was realistic. I quickly realized that he really knows what he’s doing!
What do you know? A few months later I found myself hanging out with BJ (also an artist) and him at his kitchen table. Pull up a chair at your table and enjoy some fun insights into Frank’s life…
Frank Loudin…
- Won a blue ribbon for penmanship at the Ritchie County Fair in West Virginia – “it’s been downhill ever since!”
- Was the captain of his basketball team in high school.
- Flunked Spanish in college – “my mother was so ashamed that one of her kids flunked something!”
- Was Captain of Artillery in the Marine Corps during the Korean War.
- Sold popsicles (1 or 2) in northern New Mexico when it was 20 degrees below zero.
- Lived on Catalina Island in the Hollyhill House and was the MC at a celebrity ball in Avalon’s world-famous casino ballroom.
- Danced on New Year’s Eve to The Glen Miller Orchestra at the Avalon casino ballroom.
- Was a float judge for the Rose Parade.
- Sat in front of President Gerald Ford at the Rose Bowl.
- Did paintings that hung in the Lt Governor’s office in Olympia for three months.
- River rafted down the Kern River near Bakersfield, CA.
- Fell in love and married in Laguna Beach.
- Was a manhole sniffer for Southern County Gas Company in Beverly Hills.
- Landed an airplane (as the navigator) in a snowstorm on a highway in Utah.
- Was flying in a jet trainer when the cockpit filled with smoke and had to call a mayday on the runway.
- Sold well over a million dollars of his artwork in 65 years.
- Owned an art gallery and had one-man shows in Carmel, Scottsdale, Laguna Beach, and more.
- Sent a painting to #1 Park Ave, New York, NY – “I have no idea who it was but the address is impressive!”
- “Kind of” met Richard Millhouse Nixon – “or rubbed elbows with him” – when he visited Catalina Island.
- Made a lobster omelet for actor William Conrad and did a portrait of actor John Davidson’s yacht.
- Was a preacher’s son and used to ride the circuit with him in West Virginia and New Mexico.
- Had a grandfather named Nicholas Loudin Loudin.
- Came really close to being an LA policeman – passed all the tests but got his first job in an art studio instead. “Thank goodness or I’d be dead by now.”
- Sold newspapers on the corner of a saloon during WWII – “my mother never realized I went in a saloon to do that!”
- Had a favorite job – doing architectural rendering in an LA art studio.
- Marched into the LA Coliseum as the head of a unit of marines to carry the flag before a football game.
- Consumed a dozen martinis one evening before dinner and passed out standing up.
- Flew to Mexico City for lunch one day and flew back to LA after eating (on a job assignment).
- Has been to the top of Washington Monument, the top of St Paul’s Cathedral in London, and the top of Pike’s Peak.
- Received a message from his deceased father through a spiritual medium – “an important, life-changing message” – and right afterward Norman Rockwell chimed in and said he liked Frank’s artwork!
Thank you, Michell Marshall, for allowing me to continue the “list” tradition that you started at the Office Cupboard.
The painting is one of many that Frank was selling at his Orcas Center exhibit
Photo of Frank courtesy of theOrcasonian.com
