The Life of Brian
Brian Fey is an artist and cultural designer living at the Bosque Village in the highlands of Mexico.  Born in Port Townsend, Washington state, USA, Brian has spent most of his life living in the Pacific Northwest towns of Puyallup, Gig Harbor, and Seattle.

His art career began in 1986 as a freelance photojournalist during the Nicaraguan civil war.  This experience was also his first introduction to the Spanish language and living and working outside of the United States.

After his work with the Nicaraguan war, Brian moved back to the Seattle area and attended school at the University of Washington studying journalism.

After graduating, he lived and worked in and around Seattle until 2000, when he became a full-time artist. Most of his works are abstract pieces, using acrylic on canvas.  Other artistic interests include carving, photography, the secret art project, and natural sculptures.

In 2004 Brian moved to Michoacán, México, and founded the Bosque Village.  The Bosque Village is an ecological playground for artists, writers, people interested in sustainable living and permaculture, and creative responsible people who want to help create a better world.  At the Bosque, Brian is busy building infrastructure to support his dream of living in a community that is mostly free from outside resources and environmentally and culturally sustainable.  The Bosque Village is off the grid, using solar panels for electricity and rain catchment to collect water.  Solar hot water heaters provide hot showers, and solar and wood cooking help limit the reliance on gas and electric.

Inspirations and Influences

• Mark Fey, father.  Brian’s respect for nature is most heavily influenced by his father, Mark Fey.  Mark’s mission was to show the beauty of God through nature.  Brian grew up carrying his father’s camera equipment in America’s national parks and, as Mark captured the larger beauty, Brian noticed the textural details of the small objects and attributes of nature.  Throughout Brian’s childhood, Mark led hikes and retreats for people interested in learning and experiencing what nature has to offer.  Mark used his photography to create complex multi-media slide shows and travel to churches around the western United States giving presentations.
• Jan James, mother.  Jan’s spirit and positive feedback helped and encouraged Brian, especially in his endeavors at the Bosque Village.  Jan has lived in many intentional communities, and her past and present experiences have influenced Brian’s paths as he helps create an intentional community at the Bosque.  Her concern for health and nutrition impacted Brian; the culture of the Bosque encourages healthy eating and living.
• Burning Man, festival.  Burning Man is an annual festival in Nevada, USA.  The festival is a massive anarchistic gathering of freakazoids.  People from all over the world, though mainly the west coast, gather for a week to build a city, create art and culture, and then, at the end, destroy it.  Burning Man has inspired Brian to try to create something similar, though more sustainable, with his project at the Bosque Village. Rather than destroy the city at the end of the week, Brian hopes to create a culture at the Bosque which promotes information exchange, art and cultural expression, and individual freedom that lasts indefinitely.
• Nature.  Nature is everything; the patterns, the minute details.  “The first time I thought that it would be nice to make a painting was when I looked at a beautiful cliff with some tiny plants in the crevices, and I thought, ‘that would be some nice art I could hang in my house.’  And I used that as inspiration to create paintings that I could hang in my house. ”
• Books.  From an early age, Brian has been a voracious reader, going shelf by shelf in the library to gather and synthesize knowledge.  He especially enjoys books on philosophy, science, spirituality, and culture.  His current library contains over 3,000 books.