The Rural We: Aaron Meshon
The award-winning artist, illustrator, and author talks about his transition from Brooklyn to the Berkshires.
“When Life Hands You Lemons” is the title of the show featuring the illustration art of Aaron Meshon, currently on view at Berkshire School in Sheffield, Massachusetts, and is open to the public. Meshon illustrates and designs for magazines, ads, children’s products, murals, food trucks and books that can be found all over the world. He teaches illustration at The School of Visual Arts and has been a guest lecturer at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) —which he attended — and other schools. Meshon grew up in Pennsylvania and lived in New York for 26 years. A devastating fire in his apartment building and the pandemic were the impetus to move to the Berkshires.
I lived in New York for 26 years, but over time, the world changed. Illustration jobs went from 100 to 20 a year. Things that used to be real-paying jobs became free. I’m lucky that I started writing and illustrating books.
My wife, son, my dog Chubu and I were living in the Sunset Part part of Brooklyn when in 2019 our entire building had a fire. I lost 1500-2000 paintings (fortunately I had a hard drive of the artwork at my studio). We were living in a rental and when Covid hit, we didn’t know what we were going to do. We thought, let’s get away for a week (Covid will be over in a week, right?) and since I’d gone to Camp Taconic as a kid, the “mythical Berkshires” were always in the back of my mind. We ended up staying in a little school house next to Butternut Ski Area. One week turned into ten months. We no longer had our rental apartment, so we decided to stay in the Berkshires, and rented a place in Housatonic.
The first time I went to Great Barrington, I passed by the Railroad St. Collective, a store selling work by local artists. It was super high-end stuff, and the artists were making money. I was invited to be a part of the group, and it has changed my life. It’s like a full-time job — I’m selling dozens of prints a month (the prints are from the hard drive that wasn’t destroyed in the fire). I’m also working on Berkshires-related illustrations.
We now have a house in Great Barrington, where Chubu had a yard and his own kale patch (he ate all the kale). Chubu died two weeks ago at age 15-1/2. He was a miracle and my muse. Part of the show at Berkshire School is a tribute to Chubu. The show is called “When Life Hands You Lemons,” which relates to what I’ve gone through. Moving to the Berkshires has become like a second act for me.
I’m happy continuously for one of the first times in my life. The town has embraced us, and I love it here. It’s so refreshing to be illustrating things in the Berkshires — the barns, the maps, the cars. I loved drawing New York, but it’s a full 180. This place has changed my life for the better in such a short time.
