As a native of rural Missouri, Tracy’s artistic roots grew from a family of craftsmen and artisans. She is a seasoned interdisciplinary artist with a focus on painting. After receiving her B.F.A. in painting and drawing from Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri, Tracy attended The Art Institute of Chicago where she completed the Post Baccalaureate certificate program. In Chicago she completed her first private, public art project for the St. Louis Metro Link station, which she completed in 1993. During this time she began exhibiting her paintings and started a decorative arts service business called Studi-O (now TOHArts). She completed projects for The John G. Shedd Aquarium, The University of Pennsylvania, Jelly Belly Candy Co., Warner Brothers, The Cliff-dweller’s Club, Art and Soul restaurant-Washington D.C., The Garfield Park Conservatory, Kribi Coffee, and Ralph Lauren. She has received a Chicago Arts Assistance Program grant award. She currently exhibits her work at Alma Arts and Interiors in Bridgeport (Chicago). In 2017 she completed a tree for Chicago Sculpture International and The Chicago Tree Project. Her paintings are representational and most associated with representing an every-day genre, from exploring the mundane aspects of daily life to the extraordinary events that we all can identify with. Her work is collected by private collectors nationally and internationally in corporate and public spaces. Tracy lives and works in Chicago’s E. Garfield park neighborhood in the Carroll Avenue Arts District with her husband and two children.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

My work is often representational, a cast of characters pronounced through a style that borders on realism, abstract, and impressionism. A visual narrative unfolds, revealing events or moments of happenstance which might characterize various roles of human existence. Dicey and endurance coalesce with clouded psychology noting the possibility of a deeper explanation. I find inspiration from my surroundings of people and nature. Transpired through my search for movement, gesture, and expression, these emerging characters become substantial throughout my process. My imagery appears through rough sketches offering composition solutions that evolve while drawing with thin layers of paint. I am documenting recollected moments that in turn happen to parallel a provoked, yet unexplained emotion.
I work in oils, acrylics, and drawing materials; charcoal and graphite. Thin layers of color are overlapped, paint is drawn and sketched vigorously across and up and down as I manipulate the images I see coming through the paint. I dive right in, the next mark steering my next decision. Only sometimes does my work require rough compositional sketches and at times photo references. A large mirror is an essential tool throughout my process, allowing me to reference my own features when working with the figure.