Welcome to Frank Lloyd Wright’s – Taliesin West

by Heidi Emmett

I was in Arizona last week for a “girls weekend”. What fun we had. Our first stop was Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter retreat. This section of the sprawling grounds is the school area and enormous living room. Yes, Wright needed money so he opened an architectural school. It is still a going concern and class was in session while we were there.Wright centered everything about Taliesin West around the petroglyph above and the square drawing. To him it meant friendship. You see this design everywhere.  Can you see the square in this section of the school? There are 30 students busily drawing inside that building. The color of these shapes is Wright’s signature color that he mixed himself, Taliesin Red. It is used everywhere on the grounds and in general around the Phoenix, Scottsdale area.   I had to get a picture of the Saguaro cactus outside Wrights personal office.  In the gift shop, the square shapes are repeated in trivets. I bought a calendar that has Wright’s drawings. He used colored pencils. I love, love, all the shapes. I also bought a coloring book so I can do my own coloring. A great exercise for us all when choosing designs for our own “Art on the Wall, Art to Wear” creations. “Colors-in paste or crayon-or pencils-always a thrill! To this day I love to hold a handful of many-colored pencils and open my hand to see them lying loose upon my palm, in the light”. Frank Lloyd WrightI brought this vest to wear in Arizona. Much to my surprise and delight, I had already explored some of Wright’s colors, and shapes in my “Skinny Vest”.Here is some Taliesin Red and other colors of the desert. My “Skinny Vest” aka “Terrific Tabard”  is available at Craftsy.com  clothing patterns/Heidi EmmettThese sample rectangle cuts of Kaffe Fassett stripes have intrigued me.They remind me of the Arizona desert.  Since coming home, I want to play with square and rectangle shapes. Check my own blog: designsbyheidi.wordpress.com to see where I go with these. I leave you with this Sunset view looking toward Scottsdale. The sky REALLY is that Turquoise color. It was a magical time. Have a creative week. Hugs, Heidi