Salute-Gallery Equus & Tracie Thompson
Tracie Thompson is one of the lucky people that has held onto her vivid childhood memories of growing up in Florida, with vivid recollections of many family outings to the Everglades. As she states on her website “The sense of wonder, of exploration, has never left me. It is the electric current that powers every piece of art I create, across every subject, style and medium.”
"I was always drawing as a kid, I really enjoyed it. When I was about eight years old I found a bunch of old Arabian Horse World Magazines at the library and that’s how I taught myself to draw horses! I checked them out so much that the library eventually just gave them to me. I would sit for hours with typing paper and a #2 pencil, copying Arabian horses. I eventually scraped up enough money for a subscription!"
Commissioned piece by Tracie Thompson
Pastel pencil on toned paper.
That sense of wonder only got stronger when, in 2008, Tracie headed north to the Twin Cities. Says Tracie “I’ve graduated art school;, I’ve studied in Paris; I’ve painted giant murals and tiny miniatures. I teach classes and I learn from other artists. I work in oils, acrylics, watercolors and bits of wood and metal I find lying on the ground. And through everything, there’s the energy from my first memories of my childhood days in the swamp—as deep and dark as the ponds and as beautiful as the lilies.”
Most recently I’ve developed a mixed media technique using watercolors and layers of pastel or pastel pencils."
“His Coat Reflects the Sky,” 11x11” mixed media on cotton paper. This is a layering technique with watercolors, pastel pencils, and soft pastel on tan paper.
I'm going to wrap this up with my favorite work by Tracie, one that really shows off her creative energy and sense of design, her mixed media sculpture, "Trojan Horse"!
You can see more of Tracie Thompson's work at her website or on Facebook!
