One of the biggest shows of the year for Mountain Trails Gallery, titled Love in Light, will feature the new works of the talented landscape painter Troy Collins. His years as a professional landscaper, along with his home on 20 acres of land near the Bitterroot River in Hamilton, Montana, have inspired his paintings depicting trees, forests and other wilderness scenery. Collins’ new collection of works have also been inspired by his mentor Robert Moore, a renowned landscape and wildlife painter.
The Moments that Matter, oil, 48 x 54”
“About a couple months ago, I visited Robert at his home to do a landscaping project and to paint together” Collins explains. “Normally we get together a couple times a year to paint, but for whatever reason, this time really lit a fire in me for the passion of painting again. It revitalized me. I came home with this fire inside and I started painting the new collection, using the new techniques Robert taught me.”
These techniques include laying the canvas flat on a table and squirting paint right onto the canvas, mixing and moving it around. “Initially it was working different parts of my brain,” says Collins, “and I was concentrating on edges and shapes and looking at it upside down and sideways. When you look at a painting upside down, you’re not focusing on the landscape scene but designing shapes and adding a different dimension. [The new work] has a different energy and complexity than my earlier pieces.”
Autumn Illumination, oil, 48 x 48”
This love, excitement and energy all contribute to Collins’ show pieces, and easily translates to the viewer. This can be seen in pieces such as The Moments That Matter, and Love Shining Down, both showing a grove of aspen and beautiful fall foliage. These images are included in a series that was painted from photographs that Collins took while hiking through Grand Teton National Park with his wife a couple of years ago.
Almost Home, oil, 60 x 90”
“The day was beautiful: bright blue skies and the aspens magically changing colors throughout the park,” Collins recalls. “We absolutely love Jackson, Wyoming, and all of the beauty it has to offer around each and every corner. It was, in hindsight, one of the last days we would spend together before Gina received her breast cancer diagnosis. These pieces have a special meaning to me because they represent the light of hope and courage it took both of us to walk through months of fear and worry, and to come out on the other side of this frightening disease in remission and joy. Our love definitely deepened throughout this experience, as well as the intensity of color and light represented in each of these pieces.”
Love Shining Down, oil, 40 x 30”
Collins’ other gorgeous paintings—like Autumn Illumination, a piece that appears to be raining down color on a forest of aspen—are also full of this magical sensation of intense color and light. “When I’m so excited to paint, I can feel a difference and I feel that collectors can sense that too,” Collins says. “I really feel this body of work will be well received because there’s an honesty to it, because
I can’t wait to get out and paint.”
Join Mountain Trails Gallery in Jackson in honoring the breadth of skill and insight of Troy Collins, from July 2 to 12. An opening reception will be held July 3 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. —
Upcoming Show
Up to 25 works
July 2-12, 2021
Mountain Trails Gallery
155 Center Street, Jackson, WY 83001
(307) 734-8150, www.mtntrails.net
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