Artist Spotlight: Robyn Thayer

Multimedia artist uses childhood creativity to form adult career

By Julia Barton EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

EVERGREEN, COLORADO — Robyn Thayer is an artist fueled by the desire to create with a childlike sense of wonder and make the world a more beautiful place one large scale piece of artwork at a time. 

Born and raised in Northern Minnesota, Thayer was encouraged from a young age by her family to pursue her imaginative ambitions. The young artist was equipped with a variety of art supplies—her favorite being wiggly eyes and glue—and space to explore both at a craft table and in the outdoors.

“I didn’t have any formal training at all, it was purely organic,” Thayer said of her artistic beginnings, fostering within herself a fierce passion for creating. 

While she was studying to become a doctor, art was how Thayer managed her stress. Some of her acrylic paintings and collages ended up in a home-town gallery during this time, where she was encouraged to create more and had her first art show. “At one point the demand for my art had grown so much that I knew I needed to do this and only this,” Thayer said. “Really just a beautiful journey.”

As her skills became more refined, Thayer continued drawing from how she learned to make art. She primarily works with large pieces using a variety of supplies, often painting on canvases with acrylics, sometimes cutting things apart before meticulously rearranging the pieces and glueing them together, then finishes with charcoals and crayons on top. 

“I emote and process life through color,” Thayer explained. “I think of it more like art journaling—I just explore.”

Whether it is when she’s enjoying time with her husband and two children or dealing with pandemic grief while in lockdown, Thayer’s emotions always find their way into her art. Art is what makes her the happiest, she admits, and her happiest art is what sells the best. 

“My mission is to brighten people’s lives,” Thayer said. “I feel like our hearts are the living rooms of our lives, and if we’re not tending to that space, nothing else really matters. It’s the same with the living rooms of our houses, and it’s an honor to have my art shine that out in people’s living space.” 

Thayer bases this mission out of her home studio in Colorado, sometimes working on up to 20 pieces of art at a time. She is represented by the Ahmyo River Gallery in Sante Fe, New Mexico and at Mountain Home in Evergreen, Colorado; her art will also be featured at the Big Sky Art Auction on July 14-18.