Outpost Jackson Hole

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Some Assembly Required

Though the trees outside the west-facing windows are naked, and the fields between town and the Big Hole Mountains are blanketed in snow, Katy Ann Fox’s art studio is like stepping into the soft light of a summer morning. The space is as welcoming and distinctive as her perspective on the West. On the top floor of a home built in 1930, the high ceiling and pale walls seem to draw the natural light in through a series of window panes that are both haphazard and deeply charming. 

 

 

All around the room are Fox’s paintings – some hung in neat rows on the walls, some patiently leaning against makeshift stands, waiting their turn for frames and transport to her upcoming show. Some canvases still unfinished. Emblematic, really, as the show she’s anticipating is titled Some Assembly Required.

 

 

“In one way, it’s a shoutout of gratitude to so much around me,” Fox explains – the support of her community, her recent acquisition of this unique home, the beauty that’s all around. 

It’s that simple, harmonious beauty that regularly catches Fox’s eye and ends up on her canvas. Her images frequently showcase older buildings that are easy to overlook, and the compelling balance of horizon lines and natural open expanses. She feels that her work captures the pace of life in the West, a slow-flowing sense of harmony and peace. “The Western experience is pretty solitary in many ways, but when people come together, it is really powerful. My painting is a way to invest in and understand the beauty that surrounds us.”

 

 

Fox’s images frequently showcase older structures, and the natural world that frames them. She relishes moments of subtle irony, like that captured in the painting leaning near the doorway. She smiles as she gestures towards the canvas. “It’s a windowless building. But what’s in front of it? A giant stack of windows.” She loves to employ shades of pink, and uses shadows and strong lines to reveal the elegant geometry of the everyday.  

 

 

 

“A lot of these are things that you drive by all the time, but I want you to stop and notice,” Fox explains. She’s drawn to the way in which Western architecture is rooted in functionality and simplicity, and she wants to inspire others to pause and enjoy. “It’s about giving people permission to move slower and appreciate. And to feel good about themselves in that moment, too.” There’s unrivaled authenticity and peace in just stopping. Seeing. 

Fox’s show is a celebration of these places and people who have helped her on her journey. From a childhood in Grangeville, Idaho – where the Snake and Columbia Rivers combine – to the San Francisco Academy of Art, to the Tetons, Fox sees this show as an assembly of the steps on her journey. 

 

 

Opening this Friday, March 13th, Some Assembly Required will be available for viewing at the Turner Fine Art Gallery. That evening, the opening will feature a custom-designed cocktail from Jackson Hole Stillworks, gourmet pizzas, and will be an opportunity to meet Fox and explore her work. 

 

 

Photos by Lindley Rust

Skinning the King

It’s 6pm and the sun is setting as I click into my skis, my breath sharp in the February cold snap. The summit of Snow King glistens almost 2,000 vertical feet above me, and I turn to my friend just to make sure we really don’t want to bail.

“Oh, come on,” he says knowingly, and he starts to make his way up the steep incline, the skins on his skis setting our rhythm. I sigh and gear up for a good sweat. Before we reach the first switchback, the stress of the work day dissolves, and we’re chattering on about last week’s storm and the spots we want to ski over the weekend. Other headlights dot the skinning trail above and below us, a small community created each morning (for the truly brave) before work and each evening after work.

It’s quite possible we’re taking part in one of the oldest traditions in Jackson Hole. All year long, the steep hills stretching to the summit of Snow King linger over its residents, calling us to the outdoors, a centerpiece of the town that doesn’t give us the excuse of a long drive or any other reason to blow off a work out. In the summertime, we scatter the hills walking, running, biking — in the winter, it’s skinning time.

About the time we reach the midway station, the view really starts to glamour up. The lights of our small town glow, cozy cabins dotted below lazy smoke streams from wood stoves. A group passes us on their way down, hollering out hellos and biding good wishes for the summit. The mountain is open for night skiing, and kids are still hopping off the chairlifts and gliding out under the night skiing lights. There’s a reason they say there’s no place like home….

The second half of the switchbacks is where it gets good; the lights end at the midway station, leaving room for the western sky to open, stars laid out horizon to horizon, the milky way bold and outspoken without any cloud cover.

About an hour after we start, we’re at the summit. It’s a night with no wind, so we take our time putting our layers back on and pulling off our skins. Our gift is standing between two views that never grow old — the entire town of Jackson and the entire open sky (filled with shooting stars on the clear nights….no, seriously) — both indescribably beautiful until you see them for yourself.

Then we’re off, a single, perfect ski run waiting for us. With new powder at the top, we grab fresh tracks and giggle our way through pillows of snow. My stomach bubbles with utter joy when I see the grooming machine has already been out: that means the second half of our run is warm, buttery, delightful corduroy. There’s really nothing better — except knowing now we can go out to eat anything we want without feeling guilty.

 

 

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