Hi! I’m Tray & I’m excited to be a member of Collaborarti! I’ve always been interested in making art, even as a small child I was always drawing & doodling, but I was able to take my passion further about 15 years ago when I was offered a studio space with a local arts & mental charity called Artists in Mind which unfortunately now no longer exists. I’d made art at home until then, working at various stages in water colours, oil & chalk pastels, encaustic wax & glass paint. When I moved into my studio I was able to really get into painting and spent about the first 5 years playing with acrylics and not much else! I’d never painted on canvas before so that added a whole other dimension to my work. I was given some oil paints by a fellow artist & soon started exploring those too.
My work is predominantly purely abstract, although I have also enjoyed painting figures & landscapes and these are subjects I am looking forward to developing my skills in more as I move into my studio space with Collaborarti. As an abstract artist, I don’t usually start off with much idea of what I want the finished result to be, for me it is almost an unconscious process with a bit of magic thrown in where sometimes it’s as if the paint & canvas speak to me & tell me what they want me to do next. If that sounds a bit crazy it probably is. I was diagnosed with bipolar when I was 22 & it pretty much affects every aspect of my life almost all the time.
Art is very much a therapeutic endeavour for me. It stills my mind in a way nothing else can & as I become absorbed in the process it becomes more and more meditative until I’m not really aware of much else than the colour and brush or palette knife I am using, it’s very calming and peaceful even though I will probably be listening to very loud drum & bass music whilst painting!
I view most of my paintings as experiments, I love starting off with a blank canvas & not knowing how it will end up, and the endless combinations of colours and strokes means I couldn’t replicate a piece if I tried. Since painting in oils I have almost exclusively worked with palette knives rather than brushes but this might change. I love the randomness of the effects that can be created with knives and the way layers can be easily built up.
I also enjoy photography, especially photographing the local area & I am really looking forward to finding out if I am going to be any good at turning these photos into paintings. I enjoy playing with beads & wires & making jewellery & other things from them. I’m really looking forward to having a space again to indulge in my passions for all things creative.
Tray Tronic is available for commissions.
You can contact Tracy on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/traytronic