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“The Principle of Odd Numbers states that groupings of 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 (and so on) are far more pleasing to the eye than groupings of 2, 4, 6, 8,” says the artist. “That is, there is a greater symmetry of design in asymmetry than there is in symmetry. Too much balance is not as pleasing. Since artists aren’t known for being balanced, I tried breaking the rule by presenting six, as opposed to five, tepees. It turns out that the Principle is quite true unless, of course, you place one of the group of five 'In the Shadow of the Sixth . . .'”
“This painting shows an amalgamation of tepees that would be representative of many different tribes and not any single encampment. As I stated above, this painting is really about trying to have fun with iconic design on a large scale. I have been asked about the black and white striped tepees and whether there would have been such a structure. That design belonged to a Crow Indian White Man Runs Him. He was a scout for General Custer. I met his granddaughter (possibly his great granddaughter) near the Little Bighorn battlefield.
While the Principle of Odd Numbers has something to do with the attraction of both these images, it is Gilleon’s contemporary vision of the West and its icons that collectors find so appealing.
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“Looking back, I was probably most influenced by the old era art directors and
illustrators who had the amazing ability to quickly and simply tell a story or
convey a feeling with their artwork. I believe that this simplicity and strength
is the key to fine art. Light, color, value, composition and line are paramount
in importance.” – R. Tom Gilleon
R. Tom Gilleon’s art is hard to pigeonhole. His interpretations of the American
West are genuine and unique. His representations of native teepees are
archetypal and primitive in their basic forms yet they are remarkably
contemporary in composition with a sprinkling of personal symbols and humor.
Gilleon’s work is coveted by collectors, increasingly finding homes in prominent
museums and auctions such as the Coeur d’Alene.
Gilleon was born in 1942 and raised in Florida by his grandparents in the tiny
outpost of Starke, near Jacksonville and the storied banks of the Suwannee
River. His grandfather had immigrated to the United States from Scotland and
became a renowned cabinetmaker. His grandmother was a full-blooded Cherokee.
Gilleon earned a scholarship to play baseball at the University of Florida where
he took courses in architecture. He served in the Navy in the early 1960s and
then worked as an illustrator for NASA’s Apollo space program. Eventually, he
went solo as a freelance illustrator based in Orlando and was hired by The Walt
Disney Corporation to deliver conceptual sketches and designs for its Disney
World theme park. Later, he moved to California to work at Disney’s Imagineering
studio which designed Epcot Center and then Gilleon assisted in the planning of
Disneyland Tokyo, Disneyland Hong Kong and Disneyland Paris.
The American West left a mesmerizing impact on him as an artist. Gilleon and his
wife first built a home along the Dearborn River in Montana, and later purchased
a ranch near Great Falls not far from the legendary Old North Trail where native
peoples traveled millennia ago from the Arctic to the desert Southwest. Here
Gilleon found clusters of teepee rings from encampments which inspire him to
contemplate how the camps might have looked centuries ago.
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