Carpentry, Art Blend In Man’S Hands
At first glance, sun-bronzed Greg Torline has little in common with poufed and powdered Louis XIV.
Greg’s thumbnail is smashed and his leathery hands match the wear on his tool belt. A thin, gray braid strays down his neck and a silver ring hangs from his left ear. A blond goatee and mustache hardly soften his chiseled face.
He’s a working man, from his worn cloth cap to his paint-splattered boots. But Greg also recites Shakespeare with Richard Burton-like elocution. And sprinkles German, French and Nez Perce into his conversation. And marvels at the artistic elegance of old European buildings.
“Greg’s an unusual man. He’s a blessing,” says Jim Head, who hired Greg to renovate a house and build a barn on his property. “He’s an artist.”
Like France’s 17th-century king, Greg understands that art transcends time. Louis XIV contributed to his country a lavish palace at Versailles, somewhat befitting the era. Greg’s contribution to Idaho’s landscape is an eye-grabbing barn at Lake Coeur d’Alene’s Turner Bay.
“Cultures are judged by the art they’ve left behind,” Greg says. “Stuff they’re building now is dismal, monochromatic.”
Jim and Judy Head wanted a barn that wouldn’t offend neighbors or clash with its natural surroundings.
“We didn’t want a big old tin metal barn,” Jim says.
They wanted the barn to fit the French theme of their other buildings. Greg recalled the 17th-century barns he’d seen in Europe a few years ago. They had been built to last and please the senses.
Greg, 50, has worked in carpentry since leaving college 28 years ago with degrees in art and anthropology. But conventional jobs corralled his free spirit. He wanted to work on his own terms - earn enough to live and pursue his art.
Carpentry jobs came with plans Greg had to follow - work he compares with filling in the blanks. He compensated by drawing and painting impressionist landscapes and Western scenes.
Little by little, Greg melded the two worlds until he refused to take jobs without an artistic element.
“Art isn’t separate from everything. It’s everywhere,” he says.
Now it’s a 32-foot-by-48-foot building in a rolling meadow just below Greg’s Turner Bay house. He designed a barn that would fit in the foothills of the Alps.
Its cedar-shingled roof tilts a stiff 45 degrees from its foundation and is topped with a cupola with an even steeper roof. Decorative cutouts in the cupola ventilate the barn. Where the shingles peak, a spire starts, skewering the sky like a knight’s lance.
Eighteen erect timbers support the walls. When the barn is finished, those exposed timbers will divide walls of creamy stucco and straw.
The evolving barn routinely seduces drivers off state Highway 97. They want to know if it’s a church. They admire the style.
Greg’s there every day, usually with his son, Catlin, and friend Dan Johnstone.
Most admirers don’t know that Greg installed the shingles irregularly to break up straight lines and added the spire to pull eyes 36 feet into the sky. They just know they’re looking at a special barn.
“I think everyone has the desire to be creative,” Greg says. “In Europe, those guys did those buildings because they enjoyed it. That’s what I’m doing here.”
Swing time
Twenty bucks will buy dinner, dance lessons and great music Tuesday at Lake City High School. The fun, which will start at 6 p.m., will raise money for the school music program. Call (208) 769-0769 for details.
Sore cheeks
If you laughed until it hurt at the Montana Logging and Ballet Company’s performance in Coeur d’Alene last Sunday, thank Sandy Emerson. Sandy worked tirelessly for a year to bring the hilarious group to the benefit for the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations.
Who are tireless workers in your community? Thank them through Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene 83814; or fax to (208) 765-7149, call (208) 765-7128 or send e-mail to cynthiat@spokesman.com.