My Taliesin Summer part 1

16x20" oil on linen.

12x16" oil on linen

12x16" oil on linen


This summer, Taliesin Preservation hosted a group of artists to paint on the grounds of the landmark as a part of the centennial celebration.

Chris Gargan and I decided to make the most of this project, to really get to know the landscape. The summer was characterized with the challenge of finding the most interesting way to talk about the experience and attempting to organize a landscape that was not the most pleasing around. I agree with the idea that nature is perfect, but her design is not and it was good to study ways to approach this.

Chris and I had a great time attempting to figure it out. He towed his tree fort, a studio built onto a motorcycle trailer, to a farm next to the Taliesin grounds which served as our home base. We became friends with a group of bricoleurs whose workshop was also on the farm. The bricoleurs were always around helping Chris and I make the most of our time at the property and fixing our broken down easels. They let us store water in their refrigerator and drank all of our beer. These guys even let us into some places on the property that were viewpoints that have not been accessed by the public.