ARTIST STATEMENT

Through vibrant, layered color, translucencies, and gesture, with an abstracted language of land, sea, flora, and fire, my newest series of paintings, Unspoken, gives form to a mysterious hope — to the intimacy of communion, the unseen movement of intercession, and the faith that calls possibility into being.

They inhabit the threshold between the seen and unseen, where hope, held in the earth’s groaning and the heart’s prayers, becomes manifest — as it is in heaven, so may it be on earth.

“For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭22‬-‭26‬ ‭

 

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Eva Trout is a Pittsburgh-region painter whose work has been exhibited in galleries and museums for more than thirty years. A graduate of Tyler School of Art, Temple University, where she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts, Trout has developed an evolving painting practice grounded in faith, tactile process, a deep sensitivity to color, playful gesture, and a nod to the natural world.

Though her work has changed throughout her career, her painting has consistently been informed by her spiritual life and by the colors, warmth, and vitality of the cultures she has encountered through international travel and service. Following her undergraduate studies, Trout completed Youth With A Mission’s Discipleship Training School and subsequently its Arts in Ministry School. Throughout her subsequent years of international service and ministry, she continued to make art, allowing her studio practice and her cross-cultural experiences to develop alongside one another.

Her decade-long exploration of encaustic painting, with its physical layering, scraping, and unpredictable material qualities, helped shape her increasingly process-driven approach. Today, layering, translucency, gestural mark-making, and vibrating color form the visual language of her paintings—a visual poetry of hope that holds space for mystery and invites quiet discovery.

Trout served as International Missions Director and Missions Pastor at a Pittsburgh church, leading creative outreach programs throughout the Americas, Africa, Europe, and Asia, with a particular focus on at-risk children in developing nations and fundraising for sustainable water programs in East Africa.

In 2017, Trout and her husband purchased and renovated a historic building in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, establishing Firebox Art Studios, her working studio and retail gallery. There she continues to develop her own painting practice while curating exhibitions and presenting the work of regional artists.

Trout’s work is held in private and corporate collections throughout the United States. Paintings in the collection of a collector who serves as CEO of EQT Corporation have appeared in the backgrounds of his televised interviews on CNBC, Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN. Her professional experience also includes teaching art to students of all ages and directing a high school art department early in her career.

 

ARTIST RESUME

Contemporary Artist | Painter

Canonsburg, Pennsylvania
evatrout@comcast.net

 

EDUCATION

1987 — Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA. Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture.

1988 — Youth With A Mission, Discipleship Training School, Certificate of Completion.

1989 — Youth With A Mission, Arts in Ministry School, Certificate of Completion.

 

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2022 — Genesis & the Humanity of Art, Gallery on Gazebo, Johnstown, PA — Solo Exhibition and Artist Talk

2021 — Fire Flowers, Firebox Art Studios, Carnegie, PA

2020 — Solo Exhibition, Firebox Art Studios, Carnegie, PA

2019 — Solo Exhibition, Serendipity Labs, Pittsburgh, PA

2018 — Genesis, Firebox Art Studios, Carnegie, PA

2015 — Solo Exhibition, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Pittsburgh, PA

2012 — Scapes, Hacienda, Pittsburgh, PA

2012 — Solo Exhibition, U.S. Courthouse, Pittsburgh, PA

2011 — Color-Full, Hacienda, Pittsburgh, PA

 

SELECTED GROUP & JURIED EXHIBITIONS

2025 — Magical Botanicals, Three-Person Exhibition, Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, Farmington, PA

2017—Present — Selected Group Exhibitions, Firebox Art Studios, Carnegie, PA

2022 — Annual Exhibition, National Association of Women Artists, One Art Space, New York, NY

2021 — Art on the Walls, Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, Pittsburgh, PA

2019 — 107th Annual Exhibition, Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg, PA — Juried Exhibition

2011 — Black & White, Fein Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA — Invitational Exhibition

2011 — PSA Annual Exhibition, Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

2010 — PSA Shelter, Society for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, PA — Juried Exhibition; Exhibition Curator

2010 — PSA Urban Dreams, Fein Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA — Juror’s Prize

2010 — PSA Small Art Works, Borelli-Edwards Galleries, Pittsburgh, PA — Juried Exhibition; Honorable Mention

2010 — Group Exhibition, 15 Minutes Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA

2009 — Saliglia, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh, PA — Juried Exhibition

2009 — NeoContemporary, Galleria Lazzara, Houston, TX — Group Exhibition

2009 — Annual Art + Technology Juried Exhibition, 15 Minutes Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA

2009 — Project Eve… While Adam Was Sleeping, Grove City College, Grove City, PA — Guest Artist

2005 — 12 Women, Delta College, University Center, MI

2005 — Divas & Friends, Future Tenant Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA

 

SELECTED COMMISSIONS

2015–2026

  • More than 30 commissioned works for private and corporate collections.
  • Two polyptych commissions for EQT Corporation offices in Pennsylvania and Texas.
  • Eight commissioned works for Rice Investment Group, Texas.
  • Additional commissioned works for private collections in Pennsylvania.

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Founder, Owner, Curator & Director

Firebox Art Studios LLC — Carnegie, Pennsylvania | 2017–Present

Founded and directs an independent gallery and creative studio presenting her own work alongside that of regional artists. Oversees exhibitions, curation, artist programming, and community engagement.

 

International Missions Director & Missions Pastor

Covenant Church of Pittsburgh and International Programs | 2007–2023

Led international missions initiatives, prayer programs, short-term team training, and creative outreach in the United States and abroad, including mural projects and fundraising initiatives supporting sustainable water programs in East Africa.

Art Department Director & High School Art Teacher

Phil-Mont Christian Academy — Erdenheim, Pennsylvania | 1990–1995

 

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

  • National Association of Women Artists (NAWA), Member | 2021–Present
  • Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, Member | 2014–Present
  • Pittsburgh Society of Artists, Exhibitions Chair and Board of Directors | 2010
  • Christians in the Visual Arts (CIVA), Member | 2020–2023

 

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

1986 — Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts Scholarship, Summer Residency, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA

 

ARTWORK IN BROADCAST MEDIA

Commissioned paintings held in the collection of EQT Corporation’s CEO have appeared in the backgrounds of his televised interviews on CNBC, Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN.

About the artist & resume

ARTIST STATEMENT

Through vibrant, layered color, translucencies, and gesture, with an abstracted language of land, sea, flora, and fire, my newest series of paintings, Unspoken, gives form to a mysterious hope — to the intimacy of communion, the unseen movement of intercession, and the faith that calls possibility into being.

They inhabit the threshold between the seen and unseen, where hope, held in the earth’s groaning and the heart’s prayers, becomes manifest — as it is in heaven, so may it be on earth.

“For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭22‬-‭26‬ ‭

 

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Eva Trout is a Pittsburgh-region painter whose work has been exhibited in galleries and museums for more than thirty years. A graduate of Tyler School of Art, Temple University, where she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts, Trout has developed an evolving painting practice grounded in faith, tactile process, a deep sensitivity to color, playful gesture, and a nod to the natural world.

Though her work has changed throughout her career, her painting has consistently been informed by her spiritual life and by the colors, warmth, and vitality of the cultures she has encountered through international travel and service. Following her undergraduate studies, Trout completed Youth With A Mission’s Discipleship Training School and subsequently its Arts in Ministry School. Throughout her subsequent years of international service and ministry, she continued to make art, allowing her studio practice and her cross-cultural experiences to develop alongside one another.

Her decade-long exploration of encaustic painting, with its physical layering, scraping, and unpredictable material qualities, helped shape her increasingly process-driven approach. Today, layering, translucency, gestural mark-making, and vibrating color form the visual language of her paintings—a visual poetry of hope that holds space for mystery and invites quiet discovery.

Trout served as International Missions Director and Missions Pastor at a Pittsburgh church, leading creative outreach programs throughout the Americas, Africa, Europe, and Asia, with a particular focus on at-risk children in developing nations and fundraising for sustainable water programs in East Africa.

In 2017, Trout and her husband purchased and renovated a historic building in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, establishing Firebox Art Studios, her working studio and retail gallery. There she continues to develop her own painting practice while curating exhibitions and presenting the work of regional artists.

Trout’s work is held in private and corporate collections throughout the United States. Paintings in the collection of a collector who serves as CEO of EQT Corporation have appeared in the backgrounds of his televised interviews on CNBC, Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN. Her professional experience also includes teaching art to students of all ages and directing a high school art department early in her career.

 

ARTIST RESUME

Contemporary Artist | Painter

Canonsburg, Pennsylvania
evatrout@comcast.net

 

EDUCATION

1987 — Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA. Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture.

1988 — Youth With A Mission, Discipleship Training School, Certificate of Completion.

1989 — Youth With A Mission, Arts in Ministry School, Certificate of Completion.

 

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2022 — Genesis & the Humanity of Art, Gallery on Gazebo, Johnstown, PA — Solo Exhibition and Artist Talk

2021 — Fire Flowers, Firebox Art Studios, Carnegie, PA

2020 — Solo Exhibition, Firebox Art Studios, Carnegie, PA

2019 — Solo Exhibition, Serendipity Labs, Pittsburgh, PA

2018 — Genesis, Firebox Art Studios, Carnegie, PA

2015 — Solo Exhibition, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Pittsburgh, PA

2012 — Scapes, Hacienda, Pittsburgh, PA

2012 — Solo Exhibition, U.S. Courthouse, Pittsburgh, PA

2011 — Color-Full, Hacienda, Pittsburgh, PA

 

SELECTED GROUP & JURIED EXHIBITIONS

2025 — Magical Botanicals, Three-Person Exhibition, Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, Farmington, PA

2017—Present — Selected Group Exhibitions, Firebox Art Studios, Carnegie, PA

2022 — Annual Exhibition, National Association of Women Artists, One Art Space, New York, NY

2021 — Art on the Walls, Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, Pittsburgh, PA

2019 — 107th Annual Exhibition, Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg, PA — Juried Exhibition

2011 — Black & White, Fein Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA — Invitational Exhibition

2011 — PSA Annual Exhibition, Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

2010 — PSA Shelter, Society for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, PA — Juried Exhibition; Exhibition Curator

2010 — PSA Urban Dreams, Fein Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA — Juror’s Prize

2010 — PSA Small Art Works, Borelli-Edwards Galleries, Pittsburgh, PA — Juried Exhibition; Honorable Mention

2010 — Group Exhibition, 15 Minutes Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA

2009 — Saliglia, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh, PA — Juried Exhibition

2009 — NeoContemporary, Galleria Lazzara, Houston, TX — Group Exhibition

2009 — Annual Art + Technology Juried Exhibition, 15 Minutes Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA

2009 — Project Eve… While Adam Was Sleeping, Grove City College, Grove City, PA — Guest Artist

2005 — 12 Women, Delta College, University Center, MI

2005 — Divas & Friends, Future Tenant Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA

 

SELECTED COMMISSIONS

2015–2026

  • More than 30 commissioned works for private and corporate collections.
  • Two polyptych commissions for EQT Corporation offices in Pennsylvania and Texas.
  • Eight commissioned works for Rice Investment Group, Texas.
  • Additional commissioned works for private collections in Pennsylvania.

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Founder, Owner, Curator & Director

Firebox Art Studios LLC — Carnegie, Pennsylvania | 2017–Present

Founded and directs an independent gallery and creative studio presenting her own work alongside that of regional artists. Oversees exhibitions, curation, artist programming, and community engagement.

 

International Missions Director & Missions Pastor

Covenant Church of Pittsburgh and International Programs | 2007–2023

Led international missions initiatives, prayer programs, short-term team training, and creative outreach in the United States and abroad, including mural projects and fundraising initiatives supporting sustainable water programs in East Africa.

Art Department Director & High School Art Teacher

Phil-Mont Christian Academy — Erdenheim, Pennsylvania | 1990–1995

 

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

  • National Association of Women Artists (NAWA), Member | 2021–Present
  • Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, Member | 2014–Present
  • Pittsburgh Society of Artists, Exhibitions Chair and Board of Directors | 2010
  • Christians in the Visual Arts (CIVA), Member | 2020–2023

 

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

1986 — Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts Scholarship, Summer Residency, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA

 

ARTWORK IN BROADCAST MEDIA

Commissioned paintings held in the collection of EQT Corporation’s CEO have appeared in the backgrounds of his televised interviews on CNBC, Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN.

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