Paint and Canvas A Life of TC Steele Author:Rachel Berenson Perry At the age of fourteen, a young man in Waveland, Indiana, had taken over the family farm after the death of his father. Now responsible for taking care of his widowed mother and supporting his four brothers, he took up the reins on the plow to begin preparing the field for planting. Family legend has it that the young farmer, Theodore Clement St... more »eele, tied colored ribbons to the handles of the plow so that he could watch the ribbons in the wind and the effect that they had on the [surrounding] colors. Recognizing Steele s passion for art, his mother supported his choice to make his living as an artist. He realized he had chosen a difficult path, writing in his journal: To do this requires a systematic devotion to the one object of my life, the bending of all things to the one. And this presupposes a clear understanding of the main object or purpose, so clear that there will be no mistaking it for a moment. Written by author and art historian Rachel Berenson Perry, Paint and Canvas: A Life of T. C. Steele, the eighth volume in the Indiana Historical Society Press s youth biography series, traces the path of Steele s career as an artist from his early studies in Germany to his determination to paint what he knew best, the Indiana landscape. Steele, along with fellow artists William Forsyth, Otto Stark, Richard Gruelle, and J. Ottis Adams, became a member of the renowned Hoosier Group and became a leader in the development of Midwestern art. In addition to creating artwork, Steele wrote and gave lectures, served on numerous art juries to select paintings and prizes for national and international exhibitions, and helped organize pioneering art associations and societies. Though known today primarily for his landscapes, Steele was an accomplished and sought-after portrait artist. By the time of his death, he had painted many of Indiana s most prominent citizens, including President Benjamin Harrison, Vice President Charles Fairbanks, Colonel Eli Lilly, James Whitcomb Riley, Catherine Merrill, William Lowe Bryan, and Lyman S. Ayres, among others. In 1907 Steele and his second wife, Selma Neubacher, moved to Brown County, where they built their home, dubbed The House of the Singing Winds for the aural treats produced as the wind blew through the wire of the screened porches surrounding the house. From 1907 to 1921 the Steeles spent the spring season at their Brown County property and wintered in Indianapolis. In 1922 Steele became artist in residence and an honorary professor at Indiana University.« less