We meet at Uncommon Grounds on a sunny day. It’s taken a few tries over the last month or so to get our busy schedules to match, but today we will talk about art.

Artists & Inspiration in the Wild is a new permanent, revolving exhibit at The Adirondack Experience - The Museum on Blue Mountain Lake. I visited this famed attraction for the first time a few weeks ago and was overwhelmed by the magnitude of effort put into every part of the venue. But, here in particular, four main galleries illustrate the Adirondacks' power and how these natural landscapes have inspired the many painters, sculptors, and expert artisans who interpret them: light, forests, water, and mountains. I'm impressed to learn Takeyce is one of the artists featured here – with a painting titled ‘Shadows and Snow.’ I mean, it’s such a huge honor! To have work in a museum! 

She laughs when I say that out loud. "I've been painting for as long as I can remember," she tells me. "I've been interested in making art since I was a child in Jamaica. And I’ve always been drawn to water. When we moved to the area, the Adirondacks’ beauty was both inspirational and overwhelming.”

When I ask if she was encouraged as a child in school, Takeyce recalls a fifth-grade report card. It meant the world to her. "My teacher wrote that I would someday be an accomplished artist. Imagine how I felt when I read that!" She momentarily holds her hand up to her heart and smiles at the memory. I do know how she felt - an English teacher told me the same thing when she read my creative writing and poetry in seventh grade. Words like that can change a child's life.

For her Senior project, Takeyce wrote and illustrated a children’s book. “Maybe, in the future, it can be published.” I tell her I’ll be first in line to buy it, which makes her smile.  

Takeyce was eight and remained in Jamacia with an older sibling after her mom immigrated to the States. The intention was for her to graduate High School in her native country and then move to the US, where she’d attend college. “Things didn’t work out that way,” Takeyce tells me, looking away for a moment. “1993 brought a family tragedy, and my mother moved me here sooner than expected. I did attend college for a short time and then entered the workforce due to family obligations. I was able to take one drawing class and a design course – after that, my learning curve was all trial and error, mixed with a whole lot of curiosity and passion.” 

Creative February came about as a birthday gift to herself in 2014, Takeyce shares. "I found that I wasn't painting as much as I wanted to, and it bothered the creative in me. I talked with my husband, sharing my idea: I wanted to spend time in my studio painting every day during the month of February. He told me to go for it.” “Believe me,” she continues, “He’s a wonderful dad, but he really stepped up his game to support my project."  Takeyce has a good friend and invited her to join the fun. She began a Facebook page where she'd consistently share her work. The page quickly grew, and today, Takeyce has nearly 1K followers, has been written about in several publications, has interviewed on Podcasts, has a YouTube channel, runs several workshops, and watches her Creative February page grow in leaps and bounds in a place where creatives can be, well, creative. 

In 2022, Takeyce began a youth art program with TNC (The Adirondack Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, where she's a Board Member). It's titled Art & Environment. The mission is to bring kids outdoors - where they can create art while learning about the environment around them. "I want to teach and mentor today's young artists, paying forward my teacher's kindness all those years ago."  

Today, her work is shown in regional galleries around the Northeast. Prestigious places like The Adirondack Experience, Hudson Headquarters, Keene Arts, The Saratoga Hospital, The Bennington Art Center, and The Brookside Museum are just a few places people have been able to view her ever-evolving collection over the years. Her art is also part of many private collections nationwide and internationally.

When we finish our coffee and stand to say goodbye, we hug instead of shaking hands. I feel we’ve known each other longer than an hour or two, and I’m excited to see where she goes next in this artistic journey. I suspect she’s invited me along, and feel lucky we have her voice here in our beloved Adirondacks.

“As a human being, an artist, I feel so connected to nature. I’m connected to memories that are important to who I am. I feel peaceful at times, challenged at other times, and content at other times.” — Takeyce Walter