The COVID-19 pandemic was a dark time for Jon Fuchs. His beloved twin
brother, Von, passed away from the virus. He mourned the loss with a hobby he had rekindled over the previous several years: painting with watercolors.
Fuchs’ home studio became a wellspring of creativity.
“I started saying, I’m going to paint a new painting every Monday and post it on Facebook to give people something positive to look at, something to look forward to,” the North High School graduate says.
These days, Fuchs is a watercolorist in demand. He’s been commissioned by the Deaconess Aquatic Center, Ivy Tech Community College’s Evansville campus, and others to paint their facilities. He sells his works online, in local shops, and at art fairs.
The first Evansville image Fuchs painted was of the old Greyhound bus terminal, which had not yet reopened as a restaurant. “My brother rescued greyhounds, so I put a greyhound running across the sky,” he says.
His work depicts Bosse Field, schools, businesses, and landmarks in the Haynie’s Corner Arts District, plus Main Street’s iron arch and the Four Freedoms Monument. One of his favorites is a painting of the Old Vanderburgh County Courthouse under a soft moonglow.
Fuchs does not just do Evansville scenes. Some of his works come with a poem or writing that discusses what inspired the image. He often draws from spiritual impulses, such as a desert scene titled “Praise Him” that includes the words, “Praise HIM with wood and stone … Praise HIM with brush and paint, pencil and bone …”
Special touches are hidden in several works. In a Victory Theatre painting, the illuminated marquee promotes a performance of “The Nutcracker.” A keen eye can spot a ballet dancer tucked into a cloud above.
Fuchs is retired after spending most of his professional career with the now-closed Evansville commercial printing company Krieger-Ragsdale & Co. He lost a finger on his left hand in an on-the-job accident years ago, but fortunately for Fuchs and his hobby, he is right-handed.
Fuchs says his mother — who was widowed in 1958 when his father died in an automobile accident when the twins were only two — encouraged his love of art. So did his wife, Mary, who passed away in November.
“Every day,” Fuchs says, “I wake up and I’m thankful that God gave me eyes to see and hands to paint. And I’m not the best painter, but I’m the best nine-fingered painter.”
Fuchs’ artwork is for sale at merchants including River City Coffee + Goods and Inman’s Picture Framing & Gallery.