Fine Art
Artist Finds Inspiration Living and Working Off-Grid
An Interview with Abstract Artist T'Alyne
Photo Credit: Harry Anderson
T'Alyne is currently living and working in a zero-emissions, off-grid solar home and working in a solar-powered art studio in the mountains of South Colorado. She is interested in balance and environmental stewardship as well as modeling a positive impact for an ecologically conscientious way of life.
T'Alyne shares: "Environmental awareness and protecting our natural resources are crucial if we are to survive. As a culture we are too busy to notice the delicacy of this complete system of life. Through my work as an artist, I see the opportunities to highlight these subtle spaces that balance and support our natural environment. It is crucial that we attend to the beauty, tranquility and serenity in order to return to the center of balance. When we take care of our planet, we impact ourselves in a positive way. My work focuses on the importance of mark making and how this establishes relationships and bridges between our understanding of the environment and self. I am interested in capturing the temperament of my surroundings and reflecting my ever-changing environment. Flickering between two-dimensional and three-dimensional experiences, my work addresses the conceptual spirit of our environment. I continually observe and am fascinated by its constantly changing forms. I discover patterns, and I am spellbound by the great power and destruction as well as the beautiful."
T'Alyne shares: "Environmental awareness and protecting our natural resources are crucial if we are to survive. As a culture we are too busy to notice the delicacy of this complete system of life. Through my work as an artist, I see the opportunities to highlight these subtle spaces that balance and support our natural environment. It is crucial that we attend to the beauty, tranquility and serenity in order to return to the center of balance. When we take care of our planet, we impact ourselves in a positive way. My work focuses on the importance of mark making and how this establishes relationships and bridges between our understanding of the environment and self. I am interested in capturing the temperament of my surroundings and reflecting my ever-changing environment. Flickering between two-dimensional and three-dimensional experiences, my work addresses the conceptual spirit of our environment. I continually observe and am fascinated by its constantly changing forms. I discover patterns, and I am spellbound by the great power and destruction as well as the beautiful."
Myrna Beth Haskell, executive editor, spoke with T’Alyne about off-grid living and how the environment inspires her abstract works of art.
Is your art studio and living space 100% off-grid?
Is your art studio and living space 100% off-grid?
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Yes! My husband built both the house and the studio. We live in a high desert climate, so our weather is similar to Sante Fe’s. Our elevation is at 6,800 feet. We have prickly pears and cactus. It’s self-sufficient on every level.
An architect who specializes in solar homes designed the house. We have a greenhouse, a well, and extremely reliable solar power because we have a lot of southern exposure. To live off-grid, it is important to maintain a diversified array of power sources to maintain balance. We used to have a wind generator, but wind is not as reliable, and we generate enough power with the sun. Every once in a while, we need to use a gas-powered generator in the winter. We also burn wood in the winter to offset our heating needs. The house was built with ICFs [insulated concrete forms] and the walls are 14 inches thick, resulting in an R value of 62. There are 21 solar panels and 20 alkaline iron Edison batteries. My 2000 S/F art studio is on a totally separate system from the house. We have five solar panels and a forklift battery that power my studio. During the winter it is heated using propane and a furnace. We just got a shipping container for classroom space, so I can teach and collaborate with other artists. Once the shipping container is up, we will be converting the heat gain and usage to water solar panels on a radiant heat system. Then the studio will be at zero emission. |
Photo Courtesy: Harry Anderson and T'Alyne
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What are the benefits of off-grid living?
The number one benefit is financial – no utility bills, no mortgage. The only thing we have to buy every month is distilled water for the batteries. It’s 100% financial freedom.
The number one benefit is financial – no utility bills, no mortgage. The only thing we have to buy every month is distilled water for the batteries. It’s 100% financial freedom.
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Photo Courtesy: Harry Anderson and T'Alyne
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There’s no air pollution. There’s also zero stress, zero noise, and the benefit of the fastest Wi-Fi on the planet! My entire art career has centered around quiet places, art centers and other remote places. Living here has given me the opportunity to deepen my spiritual practice. I am more in tune with the ebb and flow of nature. I can hear all of the beautiful sounds of nature. It’s wonderful to hear what’s going on in the natural world – the wind and the rain – without the typical distractions of town and city life. Going into town is like culture shock. I’m highly sensitive. Now that I’ve been here a while, I’ve learned to put a protective aura around myself, to prepare myself mentally to go into the city. I have to actually disconnect and rest my nervous system because I’m overwhelmed with the frenzy and commotion around me. I often find a quiet place, such as a library, or go to my hotel and take a nap. |
What are some of the challenges?
Clay! In the winter, we get mud. It’s really hard to keep the house clean.
You also run a bed and breakfast through Airbnb. What have been some of the comments from your guests?
We had a guest from New York City who was really freaked out by the night sky and the stars. He said, ‘You don’t see the stars this way in Manhattan!’ I had guests from Houston who came for the fishing. They had never driven a 4-by-4, and they were freaked out by the hills. When they got up to the house, they just stood there at first with their jaws dropped. Many guests are overwhelmed with the quiet and the beauty. They also comment on how peaceful it is here or the ability to really unplug and rest for the first time.
Please describe the materials you use for your abstract work.
I got a double master’s degree in printmaking and foundry. I specialize in intaglio printmaking and lithography.
After I finished my master’s degree, I moved to France and lived in Europe for five years. It was then that I discovered woven glass. They call it fiberglass, but it’s not like the fiberglass you’d see on a boat. It’s a wallpaper that they use. This is what I use for my large panel work [see below]. It’s wonderful to paint on. It’s like painting on canvas, but transparent. I use water-based floor varnish and powdered pigments. When I lived in France, I used pigment from a mine in Roussillon [a province in France]. The pigment comes from the dirt. I also get pigment from mines in Greece, South America and Canada.
Clay! In the winter, we get mud. It’s really hard to keep the house clean.
You also run a bed and breakfast through Airbnb. What have been some of the comments from your guests?
We had a guest from New York City who was really freaked out by the night sky and the stars. He said, ‘You don’t see the stars this way in Manhattan!’ I had guests from Houston who came for the fishing. They had never driven a 4-by-4, and they were freaked out by the hills. When they got up to the house, they just stood there at first with their jaws dropped. Many guests are overwhelmed with the quiet and the beauty. They also comment on how peaceful it is here or the ability to really unplug and rest for the first time.
Please describe the materials you use for your abstract work.
I got a double master’s degree in printmaking and foundry. I specialize in intaglio printmaking and lithography.
After I finished my master’s degree, I moved to France and lived in Europe for five years. It was then that I discovered woven glass. They call it fiberglass, but it’s not like the fiberglass you’d see on a boat. It’s a wallpaper that they use. This is what I use for my large panel work [see below]. It’s wonderful to paint on. It’s like painting on canvas, but transparent. I use water-based floor varnish and powdered pigments. When I lived in France, I used pigment from a mine in Roussillon [a province in France]. The pigment comes from the dirt. I also get pigment from mines in Greece, South America and Canada.
Je vois J’entends Je sens
Fiberglass, Varnish, Pigment: 8 X 12 feet (Held in Private Collections) © T'Alyne Photo Credit: Dean VanDis |
Soliloquies and B Minor says C
Fiberglass, Varnish, Pigment: 8 X 12 feet (Collection of Arizona Country Club) © T'Alyne Photo Credit: Dean VanDis |
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For some of my smaller pieces, I work on paper and woodcuts. I stitch paper with a needle and thread. I have a stitched paper series about the Book of Ruth. You can see the little pin holes in the paper when it’s backlit. I did a series with Xerox toner on paper. I was looking at Polynesian stick chart maps thinking about the idea of the passage to Utopia and what that represents. I created these black and white stick chart maps, overlaid with patterns of the weather behind it. I was studying waves and wave crests. My drawings of the waves are incorporated with the geometric maps.
I also have a series on a special paper that is used to package dynamite. On the front range here, there’s a massive population boom happening. About five years ago, they had to remap the alluvial fan sites to accommodate the exponential population growth. They had to dig up and replace all the water pipes. I had a friend who was working with the dynamite team there, and he had stacks of dynamite paper. An explosive retardant is built right into the paper, and it’s a beautiful green color. In this case, I was studying the alluvial fan sites and how they were redirecting the water. As you can imagine, this creates a big impact on the environment. |
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How do your works reflect the changing environment?
My biggest inspiration is the environment and my surroundings – being present in each moment. I don’t do well with negative influence or negative structure in my body. As an artist, I am looking at the beauty and how the changes are affecting the environment, whether it’s positive or negative. I use imagery in an abstract way to depict the changes.
I am working on a lifelong project. It’s a series of airplane window views depicting bird’s-eye views of construction and population expansion. I’ve been working on this series for about 25 years, and I’ve completed 200 windows.
My biggest inspiration is the environment and my surroundings – being present in each moment. I don’t do well with negative influence or negative structure in my body. As an artist, I am looking at the beauty and how the changes are affecting the environment, whether it’s positive or negative. I use imagery in an abstract way to depict the changes.
I am working on a lifelong project. It’s a series of airplane window views depicting bird’s-eye views of construction and population expansion. I’ve been working on this series for about 25 years, and I’ve completed 200 windows.
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Imagination is very powerful. I find that abstract work encourages more in-depth, critical thinking. Do you frame any of your pieces, or are the canvases usually hung without any type of framing? I work in collections and series – both small-scale and large-scale. Each series or collection has a different need. For instance, I have an abstract portrait series, and these pieces require frames and to be hung on a wall. The large fiberglass work was inspired by castles I visited in France. I was studying dozens of tapestries and banners hung on the walls to beautify the buildings. I have a whole series that are banners, and these are one-sided that hang by a loop from a dowel on the wall. Others, have two sides – one side of the image changes the shapes of the other side when illuminated. |
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I then started looking at shoji screens from Japan - the idea of walls and protection and how the environment and spirit of a space is changed when these walls are moved around. The environment is very important to the Japanese people, and they see life in everything. The price of wood is very high right now, so I’m working on the paintings and will frame these in wood later in a shoji screen style, similar to an accordian. The pieces that hang in groups away from the wall are inspired by Zen temples with walls that move. These are hung on a steel beam with tracks. They are interchangeable. Both sides are painted. I also have a series of paintings that can be built into drum chandeliers. |
Stone Rain (Rain Collection)
Fiberglass, Varnish, Pigment: 3 X 7 feet © T'Alyne Photo Credit: Dean VanDis |
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It’s obvious that you’re influenced by a variety of cultures, environments and art styles. That’s true. I grew up in Michigan, so I was inspired by the stained glass windows in the churches there and how the light changes the space. I’m also influenced by modernist architecture. There are so many things that I want to explore. The panels are often hung in groups. Is the purpose to envelop the viewer in the art? When I was very young and going to museums and experiencing artists I had never seen before, I was amazed by Monet’s 'Water Lilies." I walked into the room and was spellbound - by both the scale and the beauty. A viewer definitely becomes enveloped in a larger-than-life scale. The sky where I live is larger-than-life. You can see for hundreds of miles in the distance. Everything is big. The sunset is big. T'ALyne laughs. I’m in the perfect space to do big. I’m most interested in the endless dimensional space through the use of color. |
Over the River and Through the Woods
Steel, Fiberglass, Varnish, Pigment: 8 x 15 feet (Studio T’Alyne, Colorado) © T'Alyne Photo Courtesy: Harry Anderson and T'Alyne |
Where do you find sanctuary?
Okay…I’m an abstract artist, so you’re going to get an abstract answer.
Okay…I’m an abstract artist, so you’re going to get an abstract answer.
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T’Alyne shares a poem she wrote.
Across the grass comes the moon - walk the autumn long shallowness of sunlight acold with dreams or sky so nigh the fountains run sunlight and moonlight total sun oceaning and without was |
T'Alyne's favorite quote which she believes sums up the inspiration behind her work. “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” ~ Helen Keller |
T’Alyne is a Colorado native. During her formative years, she was raised in Michigan, surrounded by fresh water. She studied printmaking and foundry art at Arizona State University, where she graduated with an MFA. Later, she earned another master’s degree from the University of Colorado, Denver. She has held visiting artist and resident artist positions both in Europe and the U.S. She has held long-term residencies at the following locations: Camac Centre D’Art, Marnay sur Seine, France; Atelier Fourwinds, Aureille, France; Virginia Center of Creative Arts, Amherst, VA; Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT; and the Webb School, Knoxville, TN.
Equally noteworthy is her exhibition recognition including: Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio; Forest Hills Fine Art Center, Michigan; Wellington Institute of Technology, New Zealand; American River College, California; Eglise de Saint Jacques, Dival, France; Luxun Academy Shenyang, China, Juror Alma Ruiz; The Vienna Project, Madrid and Vienna; South Bend Museum of Contemporary Art, Indiana; Grand Rapids Art Museum, Michigan; Mesa Contemporary Centre for the Arts, Arizona; Conservatoire de Musique de Marcel Landowski, France; Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Colorado, Manitou Springs Art Center, Colorado, and SITE Gallery, New York, Juror Gail Levin.
T’Alyne views her artistic mission, in part, as a social one. She values the establishment of personal connections and hopes to be instrumental in building awareness of the importance of the environment to society and culture through her interactions with the public at all levels of awareness.
Her abstract works, which are comprised of powdered pigment suspended in water-based varnish on fiberglass paper and wood, are meant to capture the temperament of her surroundings and to reflect the ever-changing environment.
She is influenced by Rothko, Diebenkorn, Frankenthaler, Avery, French surrealists and impressionists, and the radiance of ever-changing light.
Equally noteworthy is her exhibition recognition including: Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio; Forest Hills Fine Art Center, Michigan; Wellington Institute of Technology, New Zealand; American River College, California; Eglise de Saint Jacques, Dival, France; Luxun Academy Shenyang, China, Juror Alma Ruiz; The Vienna Project, Madrid and Vienna; South Bend Museum of Contemporary Art, Indiana; Grand Rapids Art Museum, Michigan; Mesa Contemporary Centre for the Arts, Arizona; Conservatoire de Musique de Marcel Landowski, France; Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Colorado, Manitou Springs Art Center, Colorado, and SITE Gallery, New York, Juror Gail Levin.
T’Alyne views her artistic mission, in part, as a social one. She values the establishment of personal connections and hopes to be instrumental in building awareness of the importance of the environment to society and culture through her interactions with the public at all levels of awareness.
Her abstract works, which are comprised of powdered pigment suspended in water-based varnish on fiberglass paper and wood, are meant to capture the temperament of her surroundings and to reflect the ever-changing environment.
She is influenced by Rothko, Diebenkorn, Frankenthaler, Avery, French surrealists and impressionists, and the radiance of ever-changing light.
