589 - Crystal Tretbar - Dakota Dawn

Artist Crystal Tretbar is a self-taught painter who has spent her lifetime learning through practice, experimentation, and persistence. While she has taken basic high school and college art classes, most of her artistic development has come through painting, problem-solving, and learning from mistakes. Rather than working in one fixed style, Crystal adapts her approach to each subject and project she takes on. For the Mandan Art Alley project, Crystal set out to create an image that reflects the feeling of this place–its open landscape, its history, and the cultures that are a part of it.

Hi. My name is Crystal. Thank you for showing interest in my mural, Dakota Dawn. The painting depicts a horse and rider rearing in the foreground of a sunrise and wide open rolling prairie. The piece as a whole has a collage feel. The rider and horse being in muted tones but with detail by brush and acrylic, the background in basic acrylic, and the morning star or star quilt design in vibrant glossy spray paint. The effect is visually interesting and gives the horse and star their own stage.

I wanted to showcase two particular themes with my painting. The first, Mandan being the beginning of the west: the wild, the freedom, the wide open spaces. The man we assume to be a cowboy or rancher with obvious skill on a horse, a scene straight out of a Western. The same man would not be out of place here in downtown Mandan.

The second theme I wanted to include was the continued influence and culture of the Indigenous peoples of the Mandan area. This is reflected in the large morning star, a geometric pattern found on Indigenous star quilts. To emphasize a sunrise, the rays of the sun were added with spray paint in a downward freehand motion opposed to the tedious taping off of the diamonds of the morning star.

I love the style and subject matter of the painting and intend on doing a series. If you’re interested in viewing more of my work, and there’s lots of variety as I’ve never settled on a particular style, my Facebook painting page can be found through my personal Crystal Tretbar account. Thank you again for viewing my painting.