People Who Inspire Me: Megan Klco

Last spring, I had the honor and the pleasure of studying art (and life) in Aix-en-Provence, France with a group of wonderful and amazing people who inspired me beyond words or imagination.  It was in France that I met so many wonderful American comrades whose futures are so bright, they've gotta wear shades.  Megan Klco was one of the lovely beings that I feel honored to have met and quickly became one of my favorite up and coming artists.  Megan has an amazing vision and an enviable ability to translate color, light, and atmosphere with the stroke of a brush.  Recently, Megan was kind enough to send me some of her recent work and answer some questions for me to share.  Lucky for all of us, she has a website where you can peruse much of her work and contact her about acquisitions:  http://www.meganklco.com/   Thank you, Megan, for taking the time to share with us!!

Megan Klco. Millard, Missouri. 2009.

Megan Klco.  Missouri Sunset. 2009.

Megan Klco.  Corner of Millay and Jersey.  2010.

Megan Klco.  Red House.  2010.

Megan Klco.  Sugar Creek, Spring.  2010.

What and who inspire you?

Day-to-day life inspires me. My grandmother has a (sometimes embarrassing) passion for life that's been known to make her burst into tears while hiking because the landscape is, in her words, "musical." I've inherited a fraction of that. I find my day-to-day landscape very rich and painting, to me, is the ultimate in indulgence. I want to stick my fingers straight into the butter dish of life.

Who is/are the artist(s) you most admire?

Paul Cezanne, Robert Smithson, Alberto Giacommetti.

When did you first know you were/wanted to be an artist?

In Kindergarten, but I think it was tied with being a basketball player. The latter dream died fast.

Do you have any family members who are artists?

No, but many who are artistic in other ways.

Favorite meal ever: where, what and with whom?

Homemade pizza and beer nights with my college roommates.

Most interesting dream you've ever had?

I used to have a recurring dream where I'd gradually go blind. A bad nightmare for someone who wants to be a painter.

Favorite book and why?

Mrs. Dalloway. Virginia Woolf writes novels that are really 200-page poems. The whole book only covers the span of a day, but she's sucked as much richness from that day as possible. Nobody writes like her.

What do you do to enjoy life when you're not painting?

I sing. I bought myself a dinky little ukulele recently and taught myself to play. I'm terrible, but I love it.

Favorite place in the world. Why?

There's an old farmstead near where I live in Northern Michigan that's completely surrounded by forest on all sides. It sits up on this grassy hill in the middle and is almost always lit up with sun. I've sat and drawn that farmhouse a hundred times this summer, and I'll never get tired of it. It's a world within a world.

Fondest memory.

Most recently, picking dandelions with my four-year-old godson. I told him to make a wish and he looked at his dandelion and said, "I wish Megan could stay over every night so we could play every day." I about melted.