A beautiful journey
Christine Troyer, The Calling, pastel, 16 x 20.
This story was featured in the May 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art May 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
EVEN BEFORE SHE started painting the landscape, longtime Mount Vernon, WA, resident Christine Troyer studied the beauty of her region with an artist’s eye, captivated by what she saw. It’s a world she came to know intimately as a rural postal worker in the nearby town of Arlington. Located about 50 miles northeast of Seattle, Arlington is nestled in the scenic western foothills of the Cascade Range. Says Troyer, “My biggest treat was getting outdoors and delivering the mail. It allowed me to observe what was happening, the seasons and the changing sunlight. I would think how beautifully light affected nature.”
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- Christine Troyer, At the Top, pastel, 16 x 20.
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- Christine Troyer, East Side Story, pastel, 16 x 20.
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- Christine Troyer, Miles to Go, pastel, 8 x 8.
Troyer, who had enjoyed decorative-painting projects in her 20s, also started to think seriously about how she could capture her observations in paint. Then one day she passed by some pastel paintings in a shop window in Mount Vernon. Their vibrancy stopped her in her tracks. The store was Dakota Art Pastels, a wholesale pastel retailer that was just beginning to offer painting workshops. Troyer signed up for a class, and one class led to another. The artist hasn’t looked back since. She has spent the past 15 years training her eye en plein air while also taking workshops with artists like Richard McKinley and Barbara Jaenicke. In the process, Troyer has arrived at an impressionistic style that lures viewers into her compositions to linger and explore. “I don’t care for explaining everything in detail,” she says. “I want the viewer to walk into the painting and take their own journey.”
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- Christine Troyer, Up With the Clouds, pastel, 8 x 8.
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- Christine Troyer, Walk Right In, pastel, 9 x 12.
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- Christine Troyer, Whispers of the Mountains, pastel, 8 x 8.
The artist views her creative process itself as a journey full of “crooks and valleys” as she strives to capture her Pacific Northwest homeland and its frequently diffuse, overcast light. Recently, she created a series of 8-by-8-inch paintings redolent of Mount Baker in the North Cascades after visiting the area on a cloudy day. One of these pieces received an honorable mention in the American Impressionist Society’s recent Small Works Showcase. A larger Mount Baker-inspired work won Best of Show from the Pastel Society of the West Coast. But generally, Troyer doesn’t need to travel very far to find subject matter. Many of the peaceful scenes she portrays are found around her home in Mount Vernon’s lush valley along the Skagit River. “Nature is absolutely beautiful,” she says. “It is perfection.” —Kim Agricola
representation
The American Art Company, Tacoma, WA; Scott Milo Gallery, Anacortes, WA; River Gallery, Mount Vernon, WA; www.christinetroyer.com.
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- Christine Troyer, Winter Color, pastel, 9 x 12.
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- Christine Troyer, Winter Light, pastel, 12 x 16.
This story was featured in the May 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art May 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
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