By Shya Beth
Eve Troncone paints many subjects, but there is something about her energetic polo paintings that sets them apart from the rest of the field. Her fast-paced brush strokes parallel the action-packed game of polo, illustrating the emotions and split-second maneuvers of the horse-and-rider team. Living from November to May in Wellington, Florida, and the rest of the year in Rhinebeck, New York, Eve has the best of both worlds—for weather and lifestyle.
Eve’s use of color is loud and bright, fitting with current art and design trends. She infuses modern painted lines with energy and movement. Using layered acrylic paints, both opaque and transparent, she creates a range of color and perspective. With warm and cool lighting, her colors always have energy; her work crosses over into mixed media at times, with the addition of plaster to add even more depth and cast shadows in changing light. “I prefer to work on large canvases with acrylics,” she said. “I concentrate on color and shapes, and I use freeform strokes to try to capture movement and energy. My style is impressionistic, sometimes a little abstract and stylized, based on a generalized perspective. Instead of focusing on minute details, I focus on the overall energetic essence of the scene.”
A horse lover and equestrian sports enthusiast her whole life, Eve enjoys riding for fun and occasionally jumping. “I have never played polo, just recreational riding. But I enjoy it all—racing in Saratoga, polo in Wellington/Argentina … it’s all so exciting. Horse and rider become one in harmony, a beautiful dance that is free, wild and yet graceful; exciting yet terrifying: all parallels that I explore in my work.”
Bringing the Past Into the Future
In 2010, Eve purchased and renovated an 1860s carriage barn in Syracuse, New York. A 7,000-square-foot space, it was perfect to host events of all types, such as weddings, corporate and non-profit fundraisers, parties, art classes, gallery/music events and more, becoming a hub for the local community. Eve’s Carriage Barn was a wonderful, fun setting that connected so many people—a place into which Eve poured her heart and soul. She wore many hats for 13 years—event coordinator, interior designer, decorator and chef—creating all-American cuisine made with fresh, local ingredients. When the COVID-19 pandemic developed in 2020, Eve had to make the difficult decision to close Eve’s Carriage Barn.
While running Eve’s Carriage Barn, and after it closed, she continued her main profession as an interior designer. Graduating from Syracuse University, she earned bachelor’s degrees in telecommunications and speech communications, and also has an associate’s degree in musical theater. After graduating and becoming a certified interior designer, Eve turned her full focus to that specific field and opened her own interior design company.
“Throughout my time hosting events at Eve’s Carriage Barn and other projects, I continued with my interior design profession by creating spaces for commercial and residential applications. While the event venue sadly closed, I continue with my interior design work, teaching art, and always and forever painting. Creative projects like these run in my family. My father was a painter and art director for his own advertising agency in New York City, and my mother was a designer, a dancer and highly creative. They both encouraged me to paint from a very young age, and when we moved from Brooklyn to Goshen, New York, when I was 13, horses were introduced to my life. Goshen is the home of the Goshen Historic Trotting Track, which opened in 1838 and is the oldest continuously operated horse racing track in the country. I would spend so much time soaking it all up! When I was a teenager in Goshen, we had several horses on the farm where we lived. My favorite horse was a retired 17-hand Standardbred named Honda. I rode both Western and English and took jumping lessons from a trainer for three years.”
2019 was a landmark year for Eve. She participated in an art show in Bethesda, Maryland, selling almost every painting she displayed. As a result of that show, she was commissioned to paint a portrait of the United States Ambassador to Slovenia. Later, when she moved from Syracuse back to the Hudson River Valley, she was commissioned by The Wetland Trust to paint a series of endangered turtle species.
After meeting her husband, Chris Green, in 2023, Eve helped him with his polo horses until he stopped playing later that year, after 40 years of polo. Chris is the chief operating officer of the United States Polo Association, and both make the annual trip from their home in New York to Wellington every year for the polo season. Eve spends a large amount of time in Wellington painting in her studio and attending polo games but also carves out time for her hobbies—namely cooking and baking. Attending all the Sunday polo games and many of the weekday games at the USPA National Polo Center is always exciting and serves as a never-ending source of artistic inspiration. “After my business in New York closed down, I see this as a new chapter of life and a new adventure. Taking the old with the new, creating fresh new paintings, has inspired my new life in Wellington and with the polo world. I believe my paintings now have more energy and passion as I continue to push the boundaries in my work while exploring where my style leads me.”
For more information, visit livingwildart.com
