Artist Connie Dillon sees muses everywhere she looks in Astoria — in its forests, its historic architecture, its gardens and waters. “It’s wonderful to live in a place that provides so many artistic prompts, just outside my front door,” she said.

“A Moving Stillness,” an acrylic painting created from a wintertime photograph Dillon took on a forested walking trail near the Astoria Column, was recently selected for the Artworks Northwest Biennial at Umpqua Valley Arts Association in Roseburg.

“As large snowflakes came floating down in the forest, the scene had a serenity that I knew had to be captured on canvas,” she said of the work.

Dillon is the owner of ARTstoria Gallery, located upstairs in a 1923 building on Commercial Street. It’s located above RiverSea Gallery, and opened its doors during an Astoria Art Walk in August 2021.

In the spring of 2020, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, Dillon and her husband, Brian, a retired university professor, relocated to Astoria after 30 years in Billings, Montana. Wherever Dillon resides — she’s lived in six states — a connection to place is central to her art.

The work of Georgia O’Keeffe, whose art is tied closely to the southwest landscape of New Mexico, serves as a guidebook for Dillon. “She understood the importance of place,” Dillon said, “and how that place would drive her works.”

Since moving to Astoria, Dillon’s body of work reflects her new natural environment — forests, water, reflections, flowers, gardens and street views of Astoria homes.

But painting landscapes is nothing new. Dillon says what sets an artist apart is how they utilize technique in their craft. She had an “a-ha moment” while perusing a book full of landscape paintings. Artists using the most innovative techniques in painting stood out to her.

Working primarily in acrylic, Dillon developed a style of painting small blocks of black and white hues rather than blending. “An artist wants to connect in their own unique way, whether it be through style or subject matter,” she said. “For me, that would be style, because I like to paint a wide range of subjects.”

Dillon began capturing her first subjects through her camera as a child. When she turned 8 years old, she was given her first camera by her grandparents. She studied photography at Northwest College in Wyoming, and later exhibited images in solo shows in the early 1980s.

During those years, Dillon began to dabble in oil painting, and over the years moved from showing photography to using her photos to paint from as a reference. She now paints from a home studio in Astoria and maintains her gallery space at ARTstoria.

There’s a push and pull of finding time to create art, and also of marketing it to the public. “My biggest challenge is not being able to be in two places at once,” Dillon said. “I would like to have my gallery open more, but I paint in my home studio.”

Yet she sees value in dividing her time between the two spaces. “One of the reasons I have my gallery is knowing that, in a small community with many artists and limited gallery walls, if you’re able to carve out your own niche, do so,” she said.

A supportive art community doesn’t hurt either. She credits fellow artists, gallery owners and Astoria Visual Arts, which she said has been a “very supportive presence.” Tapping into community provides respite. “Throughout my entire art career, I can tell you that it can be hard to be seen,” she said.

Find Dillon’s work at ARTstoria, as well as “A Moving Stillness” on display in Roseburg beginning Friday. The juried show is curated by Portland artist Arvie Smith and runs through Aug. 18.

ARTstoria Gallery

1168 Commercial St., No. 205, Astoria

www.conniedillon.com/artstoria