My submission to Spoke Art’s 2021 Serigraph group exhibition!
The inspiration for this piece comes from a larger-than-life tale, but also one that's not without tragedy. From the rolling hills of the Wapiti Valley in western Wyoming, as the story goes... in 1952 a wildfire tore through nearby Rattlesnake Mountain, scorching the hills and forests throughout Wapiti. Acres and acres of charred and fallen timbers were left in it's wake - the forest service freely offered these raw materials to anyone who would take the time and energy to haul it all away. And that offer right there is where local engineer Francis Lee Smith saw his golden opportunity.
Using a truck and his two hands, Francis hauled away countless fallen trees with the plan to build his wife and two kids a comfortable home on one of the nearby hills in the valley. Working for a few years, and using no heavy machinery, he crafted a modest one story cabin with a few rooms and a small basement area. But hearing the call of all the raw materials that still remained, he wasn't ready to call it quits quite yet. Without any plans or blueprints, Smith continued to add on to the cabin stacking level on top of level. The home had no electricity or water or anything - Francis would commonly work away to the middle of the night by the light of a single bulb powered by a gas generator. A man possessed, Smith's ambition grabbed a hold of his mind - and it never let go.
By the early 1980's, Francis' project had taken a heavy toll on his personal life and his marriage - and his wife divorced him and took their two kids with her back to Cody. This didn't deter him at all though, if anything it caused him to throw himself into the project all that more. What started as a small comfortable cabin grew into the twisting hulking mass known as Smith Mansion, a five story 77 foot tall wooden giant keeping watch over the valley. Complete with a crows nest, miniature basketball court, wooden hammocks, and an occasional family of Raccoons. But no matter what he added on to it - Francis was never ready to call his dream home finished.
In the 12 years of working on the mansion, Francis often said "the building would get him before he could get the building". And in 1992 while working on one of the upper level roofs, a large chunk of timber broke loose and knocked him off the edge. Two days passed and none of his family heard from him, when they drove over to the mansion they found his body laying near the base of the mansion. He was 48 years old.
Francis Lee Smith left behind one of the most curious monuments to the testament of human willpower, along with a prime example of just how powerful and possessive an idea can be. I first learned of his curious and tragic story some many years ago in the Tumblr days, I remember reading a blog post and spending the next few hours questioning if any of what I read was true or not. But sure as day - it was all true as ever. This time last year on a roadtrip through the west I got to see this creation in person, and it truly is something stunning. Smith was no doubt a man possessed indeed, but an artist possessed. His vision for the mansion is just as unclear as it is undeniable. The invitation to Serigraph felt like the perfect opportunity to finally give Smith Mansion the illustrative justice that it deserved.