Voices of Change: The David and Janet Peoples Collection

Troy W. Dalton, a prolific Yolo County artist and teacher who was a prominent figure painter, has died at age 57.

He died June 18 after several years of declining health, said his former wife, Donna Halverson.

Mr. Dalton was best known for his large, narrative paintings of nude figures. His vibrant works often depicted biblical and mythological subjects, including Eve and Lilith, Adam's apocryphal first wife. He also painted unsparing self-portraits framed by vignettes of other subjects.
A prolific artist, he exhibited his works in many one-person and group shows. The Crocker Art Museum honored him with a special 2007 exhibition, and his paintings hang in public and private collections around the country.

"His work was very edgy and could be disturbing," said Victory Dalkey, The Bee's art correspondent. "He was wonderfully, wonderfully skillful and imaginative."
Mr. Dalton arrived in Sacramento in 1989 to earn a master of fine arts degree at UC Davis. He studied with noted artists Wayne Thiebaud, Gregory Kondos, Ray De Forest and David Hollowell. He went on to teach figure drawing and art at UC Davis; California State University, Chico; American River College, and San Francisco City College.

Besides painting, he was a sculptor, photographer, writer and poet. He lived for many years in Yolo, a rural hamlet north of Woodland, where he bought the former Town Hall and converted it into a spacious studio. He taught art at nearby Woodland Community High School.
Mr. Dalton was born in 1952 to a rodeo cowboy and a rodeo queen in Sweetwater, Texas. He moved to Montana to be reared by his grandparents on a cattle ranch near Billings.

He began creating art by carving woodcuts out of pine board and drawing caricatures of his teachers. He graduated from Eastern Montana College – now Montana State University, Billings – in 1979 and earned a master's degree in art at University of Wyoming in 1981.

He returned often to Montana and Wyoming to teach, lecture and exhibit his works, and he received a 2001 Outstanding Alumni Award at Montana State University. He also exhibited widely in Sacramento and served on the board of the Center for Contemporary Art in midtown.