SEASON OF CHANGE: Reservist reconnects with artist-side

Published May 9, 2016
By by Capt. Andre Bowser
439th Airlift Wing

WESTOVER AIR RESERVE BASE, Mass. -- The steam rolling off the water is palpable; it tastes like the Farmington River on a crisp Sunday morning: like tree leaves, bushes, branches and minerals.
The sun is not visible, but the colors of the trees and brush suggest the season is fall, with deep reds, oranges, greens and browns.
The colors are vivid in the painting depicting the scene where MSgt. Christopher Houde found himself one early Sunday morning, because he wanted to take someone special to that place.
“My mother taught me to paint and draw when I was younger,” said the 20-year veteran of the Air Force, who has served on active duty, as a Traditional Reservist, and as an Air Reserve Technician. He started reconnecting with the artist his mother had nurtured because it was his turn to nurture her. “I would bring my mother drawings while she was in hospice care.”
Reconnecting with his artist-side by drawing for his mother was the way he spent her last days with her. MSgt. Houde said he picked up a paintbrush after 30 years as a way to honor his mother, Janice, who lost her fight with lung cancer on Oct. 11, 2010, at 2:34 a.m. He said her indelible spirit lives on in many ways, including through his love of art.
Although MSgt. Houde holds a Bachelor’s degree in business, as well as a Master’s of Business Administration, he is taking art courses toward a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts now.
“I’m doing this for me--just because,” said Houde, who serves as a finance troop on UTAs.
Natural scenes are his favorite subject, in part because they allowed him to bring his mother to the places where beauty still persisted above all else. He said his artwork decorated her room during the final days of her life.
In his most recent, completed painting, “Steam on a Sunday Morning,” a bridge hovers over placid, shimmery-dark waters, reflecting deep earthen tones from the land all around; a large, grey edifice sprawls both under and above the painting--free from usual bridge traffic. While a powder-blue sky rests above the bridge, its reflection is topped by a smoky mist reminiscent of the frothy head of a latte.
The seasoned Master Sergeant captured a secluded area along the Farmington River; it’s a familiar scene along his property in the town of East Granby, Connecticut.
“Painting is like riding a bike,” he said, adding that although it took him three decades to find the inspiration to pick up a paint brush, it was for good reason. “I was taking care of my family--focusing on my career.”
MSgt. Houde, 43, who has been married for 20 years to his wife Rachel, said he took time to teach his two daughters to draw--Ashlie, 19, and Lauren, 16-- but now he has found a renewed sense of serenity in the craft.
Picking up a paint brush after so many years, he said, allowed a surprising number of lessons from his mother to come flooding back into his mind, his eyes and his hands.
Long before he adds any color to his paintings, MSgt. Houde said he starts by capturing the shadows--making each scene rise as if from the shadows-- and providing a realistic, yet impressionistic, world to the viewer.