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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 16, 2021)
B5 THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, OcTObER 16, 2021 Trotter: ‘My biggest influence was my grandmother’ continued from Page b1 deck, featuring Portland, became a hit at the Portland Saturday Market. He tried another set — a collection to celebrate Asto- ria’s bicentennial. That, too, was welcomed, and he’d found his niche. “By my second year of selling cards, I had enough money to fund a trip to Paris,” said Trotter. “It was a combination visiting my French grandmother, long lost cousins, touring and sketching. The following year I pursued more long lost cousins in Stockholm and Russia, and from then on I knew I could work on my bucket list and visit all the places I wanted to go.” Trotter’s colorful decks not only highlight famous cities, but also serve as min- iature maps of the Oregon and Washington beer trails, Oregon wineries and secrets of Seattle. Trotter draws any place or subject that catches his interest. “I’ve always wanted to be an artist,” said Trotter. “My biggest influence was my grandmother in Dela- ware. I was born back east and we moved west when I was small, but we went back to visit her farm there every summer. Grandmother was a potter and I was fas- cinated with the clay masks she’d made representing dif- ferent people from all over the world. I yearned to go to those far away places and meet different people. She inspired and encouraged me to keep up with my art.” Trotter has dedicated each deck to his grand- mother. He sketches in ball- point pen, composing quick impressions of locations while making detailed notes of colors, place names and any historical or interesting fact on the reverse side for indexing. The process gen- erally takes about an hour. Back in his studio, he embellishes the orig- inal sketches with ink, cross-hatching and water- color pencils. From there, he scans the sketches into a computer drawing tab- let and can work with a sty- lus to digitally correct any- thing he needs for final edits before sending the set to his graphic designer. Trotter is happy to be traveling again, recount- ing that the pandemic was “really hard.” “Traveling and drawing are what I love to do and I was rather at a loss,” he said. “I tried selling cards online or on Instagram and web- sites, but it was really chal- lenging. I didn’t connect with my invisible audience. Setting up my booth at local markets and talking to peo- ple is what inspires me. I was limited to where I could go and I didn’t have any idea what subject or location I might do next.” He was once again in his element this spring and sum- mer, manning a booth at arti- san markets in Portland and Astoria. Newly motivated and ready to explore more, Trot- ter’s newest deck featuring the Long Beach Peninsula is now available. His cards can be found in Astoria at Hotel Elliott and RiverSea Gallery, or on his website, illustrat- edplayingcards.com RIGHT: Trotter sketches his illustrations based on real scenes along the North Coast. BELOW: Trotter’s Astoria playing card deck was inspired by the popular scenes downtown and on the Columbia River. “We give to help kids experience the outdoors, music and art they would otherwise miss in rural communities.” — R U BY & C EC I L OCF D ON OR S S IN CE 2016 HOW DO WE BUILD A BETTER OREGON? After a year of tremendous hardship, how do we rebuild a more interconnected, equitable, resilient Oregon? How do we help each other recover, rebuild, and restart our lives and businesses? How do we start listening to and considering each others’ point-of-view? How do we inject opportunity, across the state so everyone has a chance to add to the greater good? The answer — Together. Join us as we learn and share how to rebuild a better Oregon, for all Oregonians. BRINGING OREGONIANS TOGETHER SINCE 1973 LEARN | CONNECT | DONATE | BEND | SALEM | EUGENE | MEDFORD | PORTL AND O R E G O N C F.O R G