Jon Barlow Hudson, born in Montana, credits his love of travel as inspiration for his work. Much of his youth was spent on journeys around the world where he experienced many architectural edifices and monumental sculptures which later influenced his own work. The nucleus of his work for the past forty years consists of large scale, publicly commissioned piece installed worldwide. While his early work was typically made using mediums like stainless steel, brass, cast bronze, glass, water, and fiber optic light, his study of Tai Chi refocused his later work on granite and other stones which symbolize the natural world. He now often employs the use of stone as a foil to more man-made, synthetic materials and ideas.

Hudson studied at the Dayton Art Institute where he graduated with a BFA and went on to receive his Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree from California Institute of the Arts in 1975. He has completed over one hundred commissioned sculptures located throughout the United States and other countries including many works in: The Peoples Republic of China, The United Arab Emirates, Australia, Hungary, Lithuania, Indonesia, and Brazil.

His numerous awards include: a Fulbright Fellowship in 1982, two Ohio Arts Council (OAC) professional development awards (1985, 1994), and six awards from exhibitions held 2003 – 2015 in cities located in The Peoples Republic of China.