Ann Tracy
Ann Tracy
Welcome To The Artists Blog
What style of art do you use most?
I hate to be pinned down to one style…. I’d like to think that my style is evolving as I mature as an artist and as I am influenced by the art of others and world events. I probably use collage or mixed media the most, but coming up on the inside curve would be abstract expressionism and color field painting. I also have a strong streak of Dada anti-art in me that jumps out in my humorous pieces.
Has your style changed from when you first began as an artist?
Although I started out using traditional media, I began to explore digital media in the mid-‘90s. But throughout my life, I have always taken photographs with a variety of cameras from SLRs to automatic cameras to the toy cameras like Holgas. I like to call my approach to digital art, digital alchemy. The reason for this is that I’m taking one image with a specific meaning and combining it with other images so that the result will have a new significance. It’s not as good a trick as turning base metal into gold however!
What medium do you use?
Although I use mostly digital media, I will often sketch or draw and then scan images.
What made you choose that medium?
I became interested in digital art during the time that I began to do PR and Marketing as my day job for nonprofit organizations and small businesses. I call myself an “Idiot Savant Graphic Designer” since I have no training in that field. I started doing graphic design and people liked what I did and paid me for it. I saw the work of some of the pioneers of digital art - Karin Schminke, Dorothy Simpson Krause, and Bonny Pierce Lhotka. What interested me was that they went further than making just digital prints; they combined it with traditional printmaking, which I thought was fascinating.
Do your ideas come from life or imagination?
Probably both I’d say…. Or maybe one seeds the other. Sometimes you see something in the real world and then begin to use your imagination to push the boundaries on it…
How do you choose your images and colours?
There will be something that interests me about the image that I can’t quite articulate. Then I’ll see another image and wonder what will happen to the meanings if I put the two together…. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t… As far as color goes, I must admit to being color junky – big bright primary colors.
Who is your favourite artist?
Other than the three women mentioned above, I’d also have to add Robert Motherwell, Marcel Duchamp, Joan Mitchell, Merit Oppenheimer, Yoko Ono, Sigmar Polke, Jenny Holzer, Niki de Saint-Phalle and Elizabeth Opalenik.
What is your favourite piece of work by yourself?
It generally is the thing that I’m working on now (laugh). But in my last series of work that can be seen at my Flickr site (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ann_tracy/) are three pieces: Power of Words, Quest and Message 3
How much time (on average) does it take to complete a work?
that’s a tough one as sometimes I start something and let it sit there for a month or two before coming back to it. I’d have to guess about 10-20 hours for each piece.
How well do you take criticism?
Since I’ve also worked as an actor, director and playwright, I’d like to say that I’m used to it. This anonymous quote which I’ve heard paraphrased just a bit differently is how I deal with criticism:
“Don’t mind criticism. If it is untrue, disregard it; if unfair, keep from irritation; if it is ignorant, smile; if it is justified it is not criticism, learn from it.”
What do you do to overcome a ‘block’?
By working in a different way. If I’m blocked on a piece of visual art, I’ll just drop it and begin to work on a re-write of a play and vice-versa. I shift gears to something else.
How do you know something is ‘finished’? Is it easy to walk away?
that’s a difficult question. I guess it’s just a gut instinct and yes, when I’m finished with a piece it is easy to walk away.
Have you had exhibits in galleries?
Yes, my work has been shown in galleries from New York to Japan.
Have you any exhibits in galleries planned for the future?
I’m working on it now. But I do have an invitation to show my work from the “Power: Grids & Shapes” show (which was at Asylum Gallery last January) at Luna’s Café in Sacramento.
What are your plans for the future?
To continue to make more art and grow as an artist.
Congratulations on your exhibitions 
Thank you very much for taking part and allowing me to interview you.
You can see more of Ann’s photographs and art at these websites..
http://www.anntracy.blogspot.com/
Asylum Gallery - www.AsylumGallery.net
Beyond The Proscenium - www.Beyond-Pro.org