#artbeyond2021
About the Artist
Phyllis Trowbridge has been working outdoors, painting and drawing in the landscape year-round for over 30 years. Since moving to Oregon in 1992, she has exhibited her work in local galleries and participated in numerous invitational and juried shows, including the Bowery Gallery, NYC, the Schneider Museum of Art at SOU, the Art Gym at Marylhurst University, and the Oregon Biennial at the Portland Art Museum. She has pursued painting residencies at Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, Dorland Mountain Arts Colony, Red Cinder Creativity Center, and the Vermont Studio Center. Phyllis’ work is represented in the collections of the City of Portland Regional Arts and Culture Council Portable Works Collection, Portland Community College, and the E.R. Jackman Foundation of Oregon State University.
After graduating with a B.A. from Hamilton College in New York State in 1987, Phyllis went on to receive her M.F.A. in painting from American University in Washington, D.C. in 1990. Her undergraduate degree included a semester of art studies in Lacoste, France.
Phyllis has taught painting and drawing classes and workshops in Oregon since 1996. She currently teaches at Portland Community College.
Artist Statement
My paintings and drawings each represent an attempt to express and convey my deep connection with the natural world and the feelings it evokes in me. Those feelings are grounded in a passion and reverence for the land and a love of the outdoors. Since I work outside most of the time, the experience of the weather, the wind, the sounds I hear, the temperature, the “sense” of the day, all play a part in the creation of my work. Though what is most compelling to me in the landscape – its unpredictable light, weather and moods – can be its most frustrating aspect. These changes can drive me crazy, yet I embrace them because they change the way I think, forcing me out of ruts I am getting into, and opening me up to new ideas and unexpected directions. More than anything else I welcome and appreciate the opportunity for quiet observation and the ideas, the insight, and the direction that doing the work brings to me.
Connect with the Artist
Related Events
June 11th – June 13th, 1-3pm
What is Plein Air?
Site: Mt. Ashland