Tale behind the teepees

Tom Gilleon’s painting for Fall Arts Festival poster attracts rave reviews.

By Todd Wilkinson

Tom Gilleon at work in his studio.

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“Power of Place” connotes more than a jingoistic tagline adopted by the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce. It’s an attempt to articulate the invisible effects of visual magnetism.

The phrase was conceived north of town long ago by the famous American conservationist, artist, wildlife biologist, and resident of Moose, Olaus Murie. Every morning, Murie awoke to the sight of dawn flashing the jagged tops of the Tetons, evoking a jen ne sais quois moment. For him, it was sensual, defined by the emotions of color, volume of space, an ever-changing array of atmospheric conditions, the appearance of creatures passing through on two and four legs, and humility in the face of forces larger than a mortal’s imagination.

In this, the 25th year of the Chamber’s Fall Arts Festival, one can feel the intent of Murie’s description in the annual commemorative poster featuring Tom Gilleon’s painting, Yellow Leaves Moon. The work is more than a double entendre.

As a contemporary Western artist heralded for exploring the ancient symbolism of native Americana, Gilleon returns again to a muse with which he is synonymous: the teepee. “I love to take the viewers of my work on a visual exploration,” Gilleon said recently from his studio near Great Falls, Montana. “It was my intent to create a narrative in this work that operates on a number of different layers, so that each time you look you are discovering something fresh and new. I think that’s what being in a place like Jackson Hole is all about.”

Gilleon’s painting features a teepee with a bison icon in the foreground, resplendent autumn cottonwoods and aspen in a banded line of color, and the foreboding presence of the Tetons above. The triangular portable lodge is decorated with stylized geometric shapes that, in turn, are mirrored in the silhouette of the mountains. “It’s an amazing piece,” says Mo Murphy, the festival marketing coordinator. “The design is stunning and the colors pop.”

Having one’s image selected for the Fall Arts poster is a prestigious honor. Gilleon joins a distinguished group of painters, among them: Thomas Moran, John Clymer, Tucker Smith, Scott Christensen, Russell Chatham, Jim Wilcox, Anne Cow, Beth Loftin, Donna Howell-Sickles, Larry Pirnie, Greg Beecham and Buckeye Blake. “I feel humbled to have a work on the poster. Given the company, it’s an incredible compliment,” Gilleon says.