Nicolai Fechin - Taos, NM.

[Mike McCarty]

If I may get the bad news out first -- neither of my paintings placed in the money at the Taos SOPA annual portrait competition.

I must admit that I had no idea, beyond the fact that I liked his paintings very much, as to the full scope of this man prior to my visit.

I stayed at the Fechin Inn just behind the Fechin home, which is now a museum. In the six years that he lived in this home he not only produced many fine paintings but renovated and added onto the house. He designed and hand carved the furniture for the house, in addition to the the window treatments, pillars and doors. It is written that he was the Leonardo Da Vinci of his time.

This first set of photos are of the house / museum. The second photo shows the bedroom he created for his daughter Eya. The next is an example of the hand carved doors which are prevelant throughout the house.

[Mike McCarty]

This next set of photos are of his studio located just behind the house. You may be able to see through the beautiful North facing window, Mt. Wheeler, the tallest peak in New Mexico.

[Mike McCarty]

These next photos are of Taos. The first is as you approach the Sange de Cristo mountains from the East. As you travel towards these mountains you see nothing but prairie land, populated by deer, prong horned antelope and buffalo. This goes on unchanged for about 100 miles.

You then must manuver through the mountains to get to the Taos valley. The last image is of the town of Taos, surrounded on three sides by mountains and on the west by the Rio Grande gorge.

It's said that of the 6,000 residents, 3,000 are artists.

[Allan Rahbek]

Mike,
I would wish to go there one day on a pilgrimage. Fechin is a free spirit and his paintings are so powerfully, no wonder that he inspires the best of living masters.

[Mike McCarty]

Allan,

You're first image is a real marvel.

Taos is a beautiful locale with an interesting meld of cultures. Good food, fishing, and dare devil white water rides down the Rio Grande gorge (I actuall did this). Santa Fe is also real nice, situated just a short drive to the south.

I was also in Taos the year before and took this shot in front of Mt. Wheeler, which stands guard over the town of Taos. I hope to paint this before I die.

A New Mexico pilgrimage sounds real nice.

[Celeste McCall]

I just returned from Taos where we visited the home of this master artist. I believe him to be one of the foremost painters ever.

I think that I learned so much from looking at his techniques and reading the book about him and how he described ART in that book.

His techniques were very interesting to read about but I was most intrigued by his insistence upon three things:

• Creating form before painting.
• The overall unified execution of the canvas.
• The infusion of the artist's artistic vision into the work.

Needless to say, I'm so grateful for seeing the place and the paintings. It was wonderful.

[Jim Riley]

In an earlier post I noted that I had visited the Fechin home in Taos and met his daughter Eya. I also bought a collection of prints his prints including the one I have attached and has hung in my home and studio for a number of years On the few occasions that I have taught classes in the local area I always make certain that I show his drawing skills along with the terrific paintings. Forgive my poor attempt to correct the color of the paper.