Publisher's Notes

Basically, decorative art is creating on objects that are both artistic and functional, including (but not limited to) furniture, paintings, textiles, ceramics, silver and metalware.  Generally decorative art is used to "decorate" with.  A painted bench decorates a home, a piece of jewelry decorates an outfit, a sculpture decorates a foyer, etc. 

I began the quest to define decorative art because I wasn't sure of how to define who I am as an artist.  I call myself a decorative artist but I wanted to be sure that the definition really did apply to me.



At decorative painting conventions people have asked me if my paintings could be considered contemporary, but I don’t think that really defines my work.   To me that word says: simplistic, abstract or graphic; no that’s not my art.  I enjoy all subject matter and I like my subjects to look like what they are; if I paint a pumpkin, I want it to look like a pumpkin, I want it to have an essence of reality to it, not realism, but reality.  But I don’t usually paint one pumpkin sitting alone, instead I would put a basket by it, or 2 to 3 more pumpkins with it, maybe some berries, apples or leaves.  In one sense of the word I am contemporary and that would be because contemporary can be defined as belonging to the same time or of the present time.  Usually I paint subject matter of this age and time.  For instance, I paint things that I see in today’s world, not things from the past or from another period such as Renaissance or early American. 

I have no doubt that I started as a decorative painter but I have evolved since I first began.  When I started out, I painted boxes, chairs, canisters, etc.   Currently, I prefer to paint more flat surfaces for framing, as opposed to functional items. 



I began by painting cute, cartoonish type designs; they are great to learn with because they are basic. 

But now I can’t be defined as strictly a cutsie or country style artist, I prefer to change things up and paint what I am feeling. I do not paint ultra-realism or impressionism and canvas isn’t my favorite surface.  I really like to paint on masonite panels. 

I don’t paint in a primitive style or with extremely toned down colors. 

I love color!  From soft to vibrant, pink to orange, warm to cool.   I am not a traditional tole-ist incorporating alot of stroke work in my designs or Scandinavian influenced.

I have moved from calling myself a decorative painter to saying that I am a decorative artist.  The reason is that I really do consider myself an artist.  My artwork is all original in both composition and colors.  I try to keep myself from being influenced by other artists.  Yes, I do like designing and painting what is trendy or current, but I never want mine to look like someone else’s, I enjoy being unique. 



Maybe I fit into the decorative artist category because as with most decorative artists, my artwork is better viewed up close than from a distance. 

The more that I research, the more unsure I become that my art fits into any “pigeon hole” definition, the only real conclusion that I can come to is, I have a style that is all my own.

How about you....... how would you define my artwork?    

decoratively yours....Tracy

For the past few weeks I have been talking about painting from a pastel palette.  The above photos are of one of the designs that I completed in the new palette.  This is called "Eggs & Shamrocks" and it is painted on the tin roof of an adorable grapevine bird house.  Painting with these colors wasn't as difficult as I anticipated it was going to be.   I started out knowing what color I wanted for the background.   I had the color pictured in my mind, so once I mixed my way to finding that color, I just had to find others that would make good companions.  I knew that I wanted to work with pastels, so I found the colors that I liked and then added white to them to make them lighter.  As I said previously, this almost ended up under my painting desk, but I pushed through by adding more and more shadows and highlights and I'm really happy with how the painting turned out.      (Photos are never as good as the "real thing.") 

The pattern packet is in my webstore www.thepaintingrag.com/tracy.   The cute birdhouse can be found at www.paintersparadise.com.  

I can already envision this birdhouse in the middle of my dining table with a few colored eggs sitting next to it.  I better get going and paint the eggs, spring arrives this Saturday!    Tracy

Well hello springtime!  (almost anyway)  It has felt like spring here in New Hampshire for the past few days.  We had a beautiful weekend with temps in the high 50s and as an added treat we saw and felt that warm, yellow, round ball in the sky.  Vic went out and finished cutting up the huge tree that fell in the back yard during our hurricane winds a few weeks ago and he even raked the grass!    It will probably end up being just a tease as the temperature slips back down and rain is on its way for the end of this week.  But that's okay, I was happy to have the tease!    Hey......we already hear birds singing every morning when we wake up!   It is really early for them to be back & singing.  I trust the birds, if they are moving back to new england already, maybe it really will be an early spring for us. 

Right in step with the springtime theme that we experienced in our weather, I painted with a pastel palette last week.    Although I love the soft candy colors, they are not my colors and so I don't usually work with them.  But I made the attempt and was pleasantly surprised at the results.   About half way through the new design I was ready to stop, call it a loss and put the painting under my desk.  (That is where the paintings go that I'm not thrilled about.)   But I persevered and in the end, I think the new design turned out rather pretty.   I'm still adding the finishing touches, but I will post a photo next week and hope to have a new pattern packet for it by then too.    You will have to let me know what you think.

The JB Wood Spring Festival is just a few weeks away and I'm looking forward to getting out and seeing people.  Last year was the first time the event was held and it was a huge success (alot of people seemed to be looking forward to getting out).    I can't wait to see what this year brings.   My new "pastel designs" will debut there at that event. 

Getting ready for spring.........Tracy

Robins egg blue, powdery pink, soft cream, & pale yellow......  These colors are more appealing than ever to me right now.  Maybe I'm attracted to them because of the gentleness that they offer after the bold colors of winter.   It is no secret that my favorite colors to work with are the vivid colors of Fall.  Oranges, greens, browns and reds; they are so much fun to blend and create with.  But pastels are what have my attention these days.  They are soft, calming and feminine.  They actually could be used in any season, switch pink for peach and apple green for light sage and there are the makings of a Fall painting.  Hhmmmmmmmm, may have to try that at some point.  (the brain cogs are turning)     For now, I am going to take the plunge and work with the pretty spring/summer pastels and if I come up with something I like, I will share it with you.    Either way, I'll let you know how it goes.   

Sometimes that's all it takes to inspire a new design; a mood or a color scheme.  Sometimes it is something I have seen outside or taken a photo of.  And sometimes it is just an idea.  Sitting and sketching at night and an idea comes out of the lines that are being doodled out on to my sketch page.  

Vic and I went out to New York to visit our son at college last weekend for his birthday.  He just turned 21.  It just can't be!   Where did the time go?  It seems that I was just painting puppies and Batman for him.  Now he is officially an adult.   As we drove past the giant walls of rock through the area of the Berkshires, there was ice cascading down the wall faces.  Water had poured over the rock and it froze in place as it traveled down, leaving wonderful sculptures for everyone to admire.  The night that I spoke at the Bethany Church Women's group, I looked out the window as the sun was going down.  The sky was the most beautiful shade of purple that I had ever seen.  There were streaks of yellow splitting the purple and the trees in view were silhouetted as black.   Art is everywhere and God is truly the best artist!   Keep your creative eyes open to the beauty.

   

Pretty pastel wishes.......Tracy