Ashlee Trcka, world renowned impressionist oil painter, moved to Medicine Hat with her family last summer. She is seen here painting in her studio.-- NEWS PHOTO LAUREN THOMSON
lthomson@medicinehatnews.com
Ashlee Trcka, born in St. John’s Newfoundland and now a new resident of Medicine Hat, didn’t start painting until her mid 20’s, but almost immediately found she had a natural talent in oil painting and impressionist style.
Having never before picked up a paintbrush, Trcka started about 12 years ago when she was living in Denver, Colorado.
“I don’t know what it was, I just wanted to do something for me, so one day I started painting a little bit at home,” Trcka told the News.
After painting for about four or five months, Trcka was juried into an advanced painting class at the Art Students League of Denver.
“They have some of the best master artists, impressionist painters, in the world that teach there, so I was really fortunate to be there and get to study under Ron Hicks and Quang Ho. It was just kind of like raw natural talent with me, and those two instructors really picked up on that natural talent and nurtured that. They are top impressionists all over the United States and I learned from them and that’s kind of where I got my start.”
After painting for a year, Trcka placed second out of thousands of artists in a competition hosted by the American Impressionist Society.
“That got me into different magazines, like Southwest magazine and American Art Collector magazine,” said Trcka. “I started getting noticed and started doing solo shows.”
Trcka eventually moved from Denver back home to Canada, where she met her husband in Toronto. Together they had three kids, who are four, five and six years old. She said she didn’t paint as much during the early years of motherhood, but when the pandemic started, she felt really driven to paint again.
“It was a tough time for people and my work brought joy and so much happiness,” said Trcka. “People started following my work again more than ever. It’s just really developed through there.”
Trcka spoke about the way the pandemic inspired her. A painting she named “Transcendence” is a depiction of a woman diving into water; it placed in the top 15% in the Bold Brush International Competition, which features artists from all over the world.
“A lot of people interpret it different ways, and that’s the nice thing about art,” said Trcka. “You feel what you feel when you look at it, but for me, when I was painting that, it was finding peace in staying still. Not being able to leave the house during the lockdown and finding that inner peace.”
Trcka paints originals but also does commission work by painting from photographs she is sent.
She used to teach, but won’t be jumping back into that quite yet. For now her art has been a way for her to take time for herself.
“When I paint, my spirit is alive… I have a lot of energy and it goes into the canvas, but it also brings joy, excitement and happiness to other people and that’s something I really noticed in the pandemic, how much joy my paintings brought and the spirit brought,” Trcka said. “For me, painting is a win-win, because I get to do it and have so much fun with it and people enjoy and love it.”
Trcka and her family moved to Medicine Hat this past summer.
“We absolutely love it, we are here to stay,” said Trcka. “We love the neighbourhood, people have been so welcoming. We’ve travelled around quite a bit and been in different communities and the feeling we have here, the support of the community has been really, really good.”
Trcka’s original paintings can be found in countries all over the globe. You can find her on Facebook, Instagram and at ashleetrcka.com
She is currently being featured in American Art Collector Magazine, available in Chapters and Barnes and Noble in Canada and North America.
