Feb 13, 2019

In 1990 I bought a crumbling old building in Helena, Montana
An anonymous "wayward woman", ca. 1905
to use as my art studio. It had been built 100 years previously by the Catholic order, the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, as a “Home for Wayward Women”. But after the nuns sold it in 1905 and moved to bigger digs, the building served as a furniture warehouse and neighborhood eyesore until I bought it.

During renovations I was dismantling a wall when I ran my crowbar through a cardboard patch and realized there was something intriguing hidden behind it. What I then carefully extracted from the mess was this gorgeous portrait of what I’m sure was one of the early residents of the home. Were it not for the rip of my crowbar, the photo would be pristine. What’s so remarkable is her shining smile, a real rarity for the time! “Wayward”? Perhaps, but not unhappy!

Ever since, "our foundress" has presided over my gorgeous historic gallery at Tim Holmes Studio.

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Tim Holmes Studio

My photo
Helena, MT, United States
My inspiration has migrated from traditional materials to working with the field of the psyche as if it were a theater. Many of my recent ideas and inspirations have to do with relationships and how we inhabit the earth and our unique slot in the story of evolution. I wish to use art– or whatever it is I do now– to move the evolution of humanity forward into an increasingly responsive, inclusive and sustainable culture. As globalization flattens peoples into capitalist monoculture I hope to use my art to celebrate historical cultural differences and imagine how we can co-create a rich future together.