Tanaro I: the first painting of Anno Tanaro (June 2026)

At 08:26 on 1 June 2026, Keili Major photographed one point on the river Tanaro near Garessio, in Val Tanaro. From that photograph came Tanaro I — oil on cotton canvas, 60×80 cm, painted with her fingers. The first of twelve.

Anno Tanaro works like this: every month, for a year, a photograph of the same point on the river, in the same light register. Then, in the studio, a painting of the same size, in the same technique. Twelve months, twelve canvases. What changes is the river.

June brought a slight haze. “The sky is Verditer Blue with a little purple,” Keili says. “The water level had dropped — I love that brown, the earth coming out where the water no longer covers the edges. In the shadows on the water I found more cold colours than blue alone, so I brought in lilac and lavender.”

On the painting’s page, the reference photograph sits next to the canvas. That is the proof of the method, and it will stay there for all twelve.

See Tanaro I on the painting page. The full project: Anno Tanaro.

About the technique: what finger painting is — history, technique and famous finger painters.