Sixteen-year-old Harmony Trommeshauser presented her first art show at the Blue Moon Galeria and Cafe in Barriere Wednesday.
Over the past few years, Trommeshauser has developed a longstanding interest in visual art into a voice that can show her thoughts in an “abstract and loose” painting style. Her show is based on the theme “Music through my eyes,” offering a glimpse of what songs mean to her.
“I love music and I love art so I thought I’d combine them,” Trommeshauser said, noting her work was influenced by a range of music from the 2000s to 2022. “I have a couple of really upbeat ones (paintings) and one that’s quite sad.”
The Grade 11 student has completed Grade 12 art and is enrolled in a university-credit course under the supervision of Barriere Secondary School teacher Evan Christian, whom Trommeshauser said has helped her excel during the past three years.
Trommeshauser works with many mediums such as spray paint, acrylic paint, oil paint and chalk pastels. Her paintings were hung in homemade frames that she made herself, with the help of Barriere Senior Secondary’s woodworking teacher.
“Her entire works are handmade,” Christian said. “She has kind of a cool cross-curriculum thing going on.”
Christian said Trommeshauser asked to do an independent art course because BSS only offers art to Grade 9 students. He said they decided together that she would do an art show for her final project. Besides her paintings for sale, she will display her sketchbook and other preliminary pieces to show the process.
Depending on how the sale goes, Christian said, she may make a donation to a local cause. “It’s going to be really exciting.”
Trommeshauser said she was looking forward to showcasing the result of months of her work. She hopes to attend Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver and envisions a career as an art teacher, a tattoo artist or a designer.
“I’m very confident and I’m really happy,” she said. “I’m just a thriving artist from Barriere who hopes to make a living out of it.”
