For the last 10 years, impressionist painter and Hoboken resident Theodore Tihansky lived on the famed artists’ island Monhegan in the Gulf of Maine, where cars are strictly forbidden and lobstermen still walk home along dirt roads with a day’s catch.
With a population of 71 people according to a 2007 census, the tiny island is flooded with painters looking for authentic workshops and picturesque landscapes during the summer months until the gray cold of winter wards them off again.
“It’s a 12-mile boat ride from the coast,” Tihansky said, “so it’s an experience just getting there. There are 200-foot cliffs dropping off to the ocean on one side of the island, and the other goes down to sea level.”
A tall and aloof man, Tihansky found himself in Monhegan under the tutelage of renowned painter Don Stone after venturing to the island for a summer workshop. But after a decade on the island and possibly painting every inch of it, Tihansky traded the one-mile island for the mile-square city of Hoboken last November.
“There’s always been a big connection between Monhegan and New York City,” Tihansky said. Famed painter Edward Hopper and illustrator Rockwell Kent have lived on the island, and others from the Arts Students League in New York City. “All of the painters around the turn of the century used to flock to the island because it’s so remote and just so beautiful,” he said.
An odd combination
Tihansky knew he wanted to paint from the age of 5. After working in the food industry for over 15 years, he finally opened a mixed-media art gallery in New Haven, Conn. and never looked back.
“In kindergarten, the whole class was drawing pictures of gardens,” Tihansky said. “But when the teacher came around with crayons, she only had brown and black left. I looked at her like, ‘This probably isn’t going to work out.’ I wanted my garden to be colorful and lively. I was so mad that I went in the bathroom and threw my milk down the toilet. Boy, did I get in trouble.”
The painter is still just as passionate about his work, and after years of painting, brown is now one of his favorite colors.
“I love brown now actually – brown and blue,” Tihansky said. “An odd combination.”
“Suddenly the picture becomes bigger than the frame.” – Theodore Tihansky
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In fact, the artist has already painted a collection of scenes around town including one of the Lackawanna Clock Tower outside of the PATH station in Hoboken. His works are on display at IMAGO Beauty Group, 113 Washington St., and Amanda’s Restaurant, 908 Washington St., in Hoboken.
“With art, you want to be wide open,” Tihansky said. “When you have a buzz or an energy building, great things really start to happen – things that you never expected. And suddenly the picture becomes bigger than the frame. That’s how I feel about my life and my work.”
For more information on Tihansky and his work, please visit www.tedtihansky.com.
Sean Allocca can be reached at current@hudsonreporter.com