Ann Tracy's

Ready for Turkey?

2022-11-09T19:13:00.000-05:00

October ended up scurrying away from me this year. And here we are in November with turkeys on the horizon. We'll see if I can make two posts this month!

I was in the final show of the year at the Maine Art Gallery in Wiscasset this year. I was pleased that one of my paintings made the show card and that we got such a nice write up in this paper.

And it's show season in the art world right now. I've got a new monotype mixed media unique print at the MGNE (Monotype Guild of New England) show at the Silver Center for the Art, at Plymouth University, 114 Main St, Plymouth, NH 03264

Should Have Listened to Rachael - monotype mixed media on photograph

I'm also working on a series of monotypes with mixed media I'm calling my French Series, as they include playing cards JK & I picked up someplace, that are French. I had an artist friend of mine ask if I had any French heritage and I had to admit, that no, I'm merely Irish and English, but have loved the food and culture of France and of Quebec. Matter of fact, the hubster and I tried to get married at his parents house on Bastille Day! But because his parents lived just outside Milwaukee County, it wasn't possible so we got married on July 13th, a Friday and had our celebratory party on Bastille Day at his parents house with brats and beer.

The first in the series is Fouquet's Folly, soy ink monotype with mixed media elements, 8 x 8" and now hanging at the UMVA Gallery, inside the Portland Media Center, 516 Congress St., Portland, ME until the end of November.

After making it, my friend Gano Haine suggested that I do a whole series, and I figured I had enough of the paper that was printed with antique images from French sources and playing cards to pull it off. Historically the joke was on Fouquet, who was the Superintendent of Finances in France from 1653 until 1661 under King Louis XIV. Apparently he threw a big party for the King, who then suspected him of stealing from the state treasury and threw his ass in jail. It was also interesting to do some research on the characters from the deck.

Next came The Reincarnation of Cardinal Mazarin, but on a 12 x 12" cradled panel, as are the rest of the pieces in the series. He was an Italian cardinal, diplomat, and politician who served as the Chief Minister to the King of France from 1642 until his death in 1661. He collected diamonds.

This piece will be going into a show next year at the Waterfall Arts Center in Belfast, ME with the other members of the Midcoast Chapter of the UMVA. The cardinal made a pile of money working for the king, so I envisioned him coming back as a businessman in the 19th century. I also began to add marks from this terrific gold leafing pen and also stamped it and added washi tape.

Then we have the Reincarnation of Anne of Austria, who became a queen as the wife of King Louis XIII from their marriage in 1615 until Louis XIII died in 1643. She reincarnates into a Vogue model.

I think this piece will go into the January 2023 UMVA Midcoast show at the Camden Public Library.

We'll catch up to the rest of the series in the next post.... stay tuned!

Time to Blog for Peace

2022-11-04T16:47:00.005-04:00

It's the day to launch my newest peace globe. Many bloggers around the world are all focusing on peace in their blogs today and I am no exception.

If you'd like to join our efforts to focus on peace, here's some ideas at this site.

September Art Shows

2022-08-30T18:18:00.000-04:00

I'm lucky enough to have work in two different galleries for September. I will be posting about the Quebec City trip and their terrific art museum later this week. But here are the posters for the shows. I won't be able to go to either reception because of previous commitments, but I hope that you can make one of them. They are both group shows featuring some wonderful artists. I'm thrilled to be included!

Everything, Everywhere

2022-07-25T19:03:00.000-04:00

To my twisted mind, that almost sounds like a covid joke. Because the virus is everywhere and people are thinking that its over. Even as a new variant causes the President to become ill, people are going inside places without masks on, knowing that masks can help stop the spread of variants. Could I say that the American people are a bunch of spoiled children who don't give a crap about others? Guess I just did.

But in other news, I'm in this group show at the Harlow Gallery, 100 Water St, in Hallowell on the Kennebec. A lovely spot you really should go visit to see this salon-hung show which is up until Sept 3rd.

Here's one of the pieces of art that's in the show if you live far away from Maine.

This is 7 Coins to Save the Planet, an oil/mixed media painting from last year. It's part of my Universe series based loosely on the concept of String Theory in Physics. This link explains it in depth.

These paintings begin with lines (visual strings) being drawn on the canvas before it's painted upon and other objects added. I've been in near sleep stages where I think I can feel myself in different universes. Rather similar to everything, everywhere in a loose sense.

I've also written a piece for my medium.com account about my heart attack after having covid. There's more and more research showing links to heart problems after having covid. This is just one more reason the hubs and I mask up inside public places. I don't need another experience like this again.

Summer is beginning to Sizzle

2022-06-30T15:09:00.002-04:00

Up here in Maine, summer really doesn't get started in my book until it reaches into the 70s for at least a week and here we are folks! This has been a difficult year for me health-wise (older posts have details). But I'm finally making some progress here in the studio and in getting my butt in gear and getting the kind of exercise I need to keep on doing. I'm back on the reformer for mini sessions (under 30 min) at least once a week and will up that to twice a week in August.

The theme of this summer's Maine Arts Journal is Beyond Plein Air and I brought one back from the archives to submit as well as creating a new one which you'll see if you go to THIS LINK - or cut and paste the following:https://maineartsjournal.com/ann-tracy-greg-burns-nancy-benner-members-showcase/

Thank you to the editorial board of Maine Arts Journal for including my work and little essay.

Those of us who fought like hell for abortion to be legalized in this country are devastated by the radical right wing Christian Taliban members of the Supreme Court, who lied their way to a confirmation, declaring Roe vs. Wade defunct. It has really affected me here in the studio. I stand with my Jewish sisters in affirming that life does not begin until birth. Plus, why not let each woman make her own choices? I'm pissed that we seem to be heading towards theocracy and no one seems to be upset about it, or more importantly doing anything to prevent it.

My heart goes out to the young woman of childbearing age, who will probably have to fight (again) to even get contraceptives. Never mind that we are also in a climate emergency and will be affected by the severe weather that will be coming our way b/c of having too much carbon in the atmosphere. If you are able to, please trade in your gas car for a least a hybrid and plant some damn trees. We planted a dozen at our place up here in Rockport but it looks like only 5 will survive.

OK... enough of the blah, blah and on with the visual... new work


Imaginary French Landscape - Encaustic on wood - 9 x 12" - $75


Universe String Theory Series: Another Island Appears off BoothBay Harbor - 10 x 10 - mixed media on canvas - $125

Look for at least one of these pieces to be in the end of summer Members show at the Harlow Gallery in Hallowell which runs July 29 – September 3, 2022. Details at this LINK or copy and past the following - https://www.harlowgallery.org/post/2022-summer-members-show

Make sure you are registered to vote and go do it this fall. I really don't know about celebrating 4th of July this year and am actively thinking of making myself an LLC Corp because I might have more rights as a company than as a woman.

Surreal is my Middle Name, Apparently...

2022-06-02T17:40:00.000-04:00

On the 9th of May, I thought I was suffering from a horrid GERD attack, but several hours and diagnostics later, I find out it was a heart attack and I'm having Mr. Toad's Wild Ride from Rockport to Portland in a ambulance!?! Once there, I was set up for a cardiac catheter which they used to ream out one of my arteries that was over 80% clogged up !?! So they had to put a stent in. 24 hours later, I was released and JK brought me back home. I'm feeling just fine and dandy now and am working on increasing my cardio exercise - along with still rehabing my left arm b/c of that fracture end of January. O, I forgot to mention that JK & I got Covid the end of April. I have a sneaking suspicion that Covid could have instigated the heart attack what with all the evidence that's mounting connecting Covid to heart problems. But if it did, it literally saved my life. Irony is everything in life.

So ladies, be aware that heart attacks can mimic GERD and other gastro upsets and if you hear that little voice wonder if you should go to the ER... GO TO THE ER - IT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE, LIKE IT DID MINE. OK, stepping away from the soap box now.

This is the new abstract photography that will be at the UMVA Members show at the Gallery located within the Portland Media Center at 516 Congress St in Portland and I will be there on 1st Friday, June 3rd for about an hour beginning at 6 pm. There is a story behind this piece and it starts with an encaustic painting I didn't like and I began to scrap the wax off the wood cradle but began to LOVE the way it looked on the old paper, so I ran for my camera and shot this. The piece at the UMVA show is conceptual in that I printed it on Japanese mulberry paper and then used another wood cradle to mount it on and add a few light layers of encaustic wax medium. From wax to a different way of wax.

It's also available as a 38 x 24" print on gallery wrapped canvas that will soon go on my Etsy site (https://www.etsy.com/shop/AnnTracyFineArt) next week. Got some PR action in the Maine Gallery guide as well:

https://mainegalleryguide.com/2022/05/30/rockport-artist-shows-work-at-union-of-maine-visual-artists-show/

The other show I'm currently in is the Working Waterfront show at the Meetinghouse Arts Gallery, 40 Main St in Freeport. I've got a straight photograph and an altered iPod encaustic photo, along with a few monotypes in that show.

Here are the pieces in that show:

Dock Debris - Encaustic Photo on Wood - 8 x 8

Harbor Fish in the Fog - 11 x 14

Merry Month?

2022-05-02T15:12:00.001-04:00

Well it is May, but up here in Rockport, Maine, we're barely in the flower stage of our late blooming spring. Still a bit too chilly for a picnic by the ocean, but I'm betting it's wonderful weather in Venice. And although I won't be there in person, I did have some work near the Biennial... click on this link

or copy and paste - https://the-biennial-project.com/2022_Venice_Finalists.aspx

Last week the hubster and I both tested positive for covid and started on a 5 day treatment of Paxlovid. He took the final pill this morning and then tested himself to find out that he's still positive. So I figure I probably am as well and I cancelled all appointments this week that I had a silly idea that I'd be well enough for. But today feels different, worse than the past 4 days. Could the rebound effect happen even before I'm finished taking the pills?

Remember that piece I donated for the benefit art show for Ukraine? It sold and I'm so very happy about it. Money is going to Doctors without Borders.

I've got some shows coming up this summer. A member show at UMVA Gallery in Portland in June. And another show called Working Waterfront at the MeetinghouseArts Gallery in Freeport. I'm thinking of entering this photograph:

Art for Ukraine in Damariscotta

2022-04-18T18:11:00.002-04:00

A huge thanks to all the folks that purchased a limited edition print of Flowers for Ukraine. A big shout out to my cuz Caren in Illinois who sent some extra money in the 2nd round of printing. This means we can donate ANOTHER $100 to UnitedHelpUkraine.org.

I'm also going to be donating a framed print to a special art sale organized by Lyn Asselta, Jane Herbert, Betty Heselton, Sally Loughridge, Penny Moody, and Marnie Sinclair. I got emails from two different sources about this, but they were all tied to members of the Union of Maine Visual Artists - UMVA.

The sale itself is at the Coastal Rivers Land Trust Round Top Farm, 3 Round Top Lane, Damariscotta, ME 04543 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on April 29 and 30. There will be soft live background music each afternoon at the sale. The sale’s full proceeds will be sent directly to Doctors Without Borders and Save the Children Charities. Link to an article in the Lincoln County News is here.

Sorry about the glare on it, but I wasn't going to take it apart again for the photo. I know my blog readers will forgive me, right? If this doesn't sell and you would like it, contact me and we can set something up.

I haven't gotten everything out of boxes yet. Mostly because I need to find new areas to store things and I know myself well enough to realize that if I open another box before I find things int he previous box, they will always sit in piles.

Plus the fact that doing PT 2x/wk is beginning to really wipe me out. And I should be OK with that, as I'm still healing. I need to sit with all this and not beat myself up. If you're going through something similar, please give yourself a break. We are all too hard on ourselves.

It's a terrific place to work and far bigger than any other studio I've had. I'm happy and grateful that I have a place like this. I'm about halfway finished setting up the studio and can't wait to get back to working with encaustic wax.

Change is the Only Constant

2022-04-02T16:45:00.000-04:00

Studio will be shutting down next week so the guys can come and help me move from the temp studio I've had down in the basement of our house, to the remodeled space above the garage. Here's some photos from earlier this week.

Looking east - I can see into JK's music and plant room

Looking west - that pony wall hides the stairs down to the garage

Looking NW - that rectangle on the floor is the new dumb waiter

Looking north - stairs are behind that pony wall to the right.

Update on Flowers for Ukraine

I got the following email from the folks at United Help Ukraine, the charity that I'm raising money for by selling prints of this image and donating half (profit) of the money to this group that is helping folks who have remained in the country which is being ATTACKED BY THAT LITTLE ASSHOLE PUTIN.

Dear Ann,

Thank you for your care about the people of Ukraine and for the contribution you make through your art. We truly appreciate it! Please follow updates on our website https://unitedhelpukraine.org/archives/category/weekly-updates to see how we use funds received from donors like you to help Ukraine.

With gratitude,

Julie

Team UHU

I've sent out a dozen prints already and there are 13 left in the series. Prints are $20. We have donated $150 so far and I would love to double that figure! This would make a great Mother's Day present, just sayin'.

If you're interested in a print and can wait a few weeks until the studio is put back together again, email me - anntracy51 (at) gmail.com They are 9 x 12" images on archival 11 x 14" paper.

So, just a reminder that the studio is closed from April 5th to the 12th. This means any orders for the print will not go out until the week of April 18th.

In Health news: I can now (finally) use my left hand on the keyboard for more than 5 minutes at a time! With the PT that I'm doing, I can now raise my left arm to shoulder height. Thanks to my frenemy the shoulder pulley:

The right arm pulls the left one up so the muscles can remember what they are supposed to be doing. It is painful, but gotta do it if I want more mobility - which I do... be nice to wear earrings again....been over 2 months.

Happy Spring everyone!

all hail the yellow and blue

2022-02-28T15:25:00.002-05:00

if you haven't been following along on FB, i fractured my arm the night of jk's birthday in boston. i still can't use my left hand so, i'm picking this out on the keyboard and capitalization be damned! while my plight will hopefully be helped by the p t i'll start the end of this week, i'm also trying to stay hopeful about the russians getting out of the ukraine!!

flowers for the ukraine

i have a co-creator on this piece of digital alchemy, my friend sandra hamorsky, who sent me some great photos of sunflowers. then i found a photo of Berehynia, who is featured in the Independence Monument, a victory column located on Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in Kyiv and is commemorated to the Independence of Ukraine, according to wikipedia.

i'm going to limit the 1st print run of this piece to 25 and donate 50% of sales to this group, which is helping the people of ukraine, click here or copy and paste url below.

https://unitedhelpukraine.org/?fbclid=IwAR0lNkofSKx0ZDkfxVmC9_H_FXcTs-cQ_Mo81uHhYTYmVfs7OUxyMDd-3BY

for an interesting article in hyperallergenic about artists and the situation, click here

or copy and paste url below

https://hyperallergic.com/713794/ukrainian-artists-speak-out-as-invasion-intensifies/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=D022822&utm_content=D022822+CID_1f165fb8addbefe8799472c91d71c973&utm_source=hn&utm_term=Ukrainian+Artists+Speak+Out+As+Invasion+Intensifies

i'm ordering some special 11 x 14 art paper to print on here in the studio. so if you'd like a print, please email me at anntracy51(at)gmail.com. it will probably take a week to get here, hoping shipping will not go over $5...

Rocking Creativity

2022-01-22T13:24:00.001-05:00

When I stumbled upon this article, my immediate thought was that it was coming from Nick Cave, the visual artist, not Nick Cave the musician. But as I read it, I realized that Cave, the musician, is deeper than I thought!

Here's the link or you can copy and paste this: https://www.themarginalian.org/2022/01/20/nick-cave-creativity/?utm_source=pocket-newtab

This is very reminiscent of my favorite quote on creativity and artists of any genre coming from modern dance choreographer Martha Graham to Broadway choreographer Agnes DeMille

“There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time. This expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. The world will not have it.

It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how valuable it is, nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open.

No artist is pleased…there is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a a queer, divine dissatisfaction. A blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.”

And on we go into the fog of a new year. But here's an abstract photo from the archives you might enjoy.

I am hopeful that work will begin next week on my new studio over the garage at our house in Rockport. It was supposed to start last May and I just hope I can move into the new space BY this May. May the force be with the contractor.

Stay warm and creative my friends!

Happy New Year

2022-01-17T15:55:00.000-05:00

For me, the best way to start the new year is seeing some of my work in other people's houses or offices! This 2020 digital woodblock print on canvas is in a very good home near Boone, NC.

I thought I'd do one last blog post from this old computer, as I need to suck the remaining things off it and transition to a different and much faster machine. This system was built for me by a company that has morphed into being zoom camera focused and they don't make computers for filmmakers anymore.

Although I only do "artists' videos", which by their nature can be non-narrative, and perhaps more simple than a 90 minute feature film, it's still helpful with a powerful workstation so the rendering doesn't take so long.

Here's a link to my vimeo page - either copy or paste what's below or click this LINK.

https://vimeo.com/user4159681

So I'll be offline for the next couple of days getting the new system up and running.

But while I'm dealing with replacing all the software and getting cords I never thought I'd need, you, my fair friend can get a 20% discount off any of my art using this Discount Code - XNYCRA.

Here's the link to the Fine Art America Website either copy or paste what's below or click this LINK.

https://fineartamerica.com/art/ann+tracy

You can order prints on a variety of materials including shower curtains, pillows, even cloth masks - but be sure to wear them with a pm2.5 filter in them or double mask with a surgical mask underneath.

Yeah, I know the health professionals were telling us that cloth masks were fine, but that was when we didn't have enough PPE for health care workers. Now you can buy KN95s (made in China) or N95s (some made in the US) so go do that, please. They are the most effective at keeping you and others safe!

New Digital Work

2021-12-06T17:20:00.005-05:00

I'm still working out how to work in my little basement studio space and while I'm working on a couple of small paintings, I've been doing mostly digital work. Here's the latest...

LA Heat - digital variable sizes

This series of work (only 2 so far) deal with the ever warmer Los Angeles area due to the currently climate emergency. It's composed with photographs of other distressed photos from a magazine.

Here's another one that I made from that same magazine source, but with a photo of a wonderful model I've used for photo shoots. I love working with her as it's always a creative journey together, right Jenny?

LA Angel - digital, variable sizes

This piece also addresses the climate emergency but in a more opaque way. Maybe a symbolic way as we have the dark angel looking at us from the depths of central LA where she appears to be trapped somehow. All sorts of narrative one could spin about this piece. And as far as this artist goes, they are ALL correct.

This next piece brought to you by the fact that North America has lost over THREE BILLION birds according to Audubon. I think I'm going to make some works on canvas of this one and offer them up as a fundraiser for Audubon. Or do you think it's too dark? Maybe but it's the way I'm feeling right now. Please stop using chemicals in your yards, I BEG you.

Bird Dreams - digital, variable sizes

I'm also doing an experiment on Etsy at my shop - selling calendars. Two of these images are in the calendar but Bird Dreams isn't b/c I just finished it today. The calendars won't be ready for holiday giving, BUT, I can email you a "fact sheet" with small thumbnails of the work in the calendar that you can print out and give to the lucky recipient.

If the link above doesn't work, you can cut and past the following:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1131622441/calendar-2022-featuring-new-and-classic?ref=shop_home_feat_1&frs=1

Have happy holidays my dear readers and let's hope that 2022 will be better than the last two years. I'm not going to state the obvious, b/c, you know what they say ....

Support Local Artists

2021-11-18T18:08:00.001-05:00

We all should be supporting local businesses, as that's the way to build sustainability for all communities. But it's especially important to support local artists in your communities. Not only do I have work in three different galleries for the rest of November (and in some cases on into December) but there's a special sale on the Etsy shop for the next 13 days.

For those readers in the DC/Arlington, VA area, head on down to St Micheal's Episcopalian Church to see the work in that show. I have two pieces in the on-line show as well. Take a look here and if you're interested in buying, there's a page that tells you to contact the artist directly.

Closer to you folks in Maine, this is one of the pieces I have in the Meetinghouse Art Gallery holiday show out in Freeport.

It's a monotype made with a fern from the backyard and some added silvery circles for the moon. One of a kind, although this is the ghost print of the first print. But only those two in the world right now. You'll have to go to Freeport to see it, unless it doesn't sell and I put it up on the Etsy site.

Then there's the show at the Jackson Memorial Library with other members of the KCAS - Knox County Arts Society. The show is only up until December 10th. You'll have to drive down the St George Peninsula to Tenants Harbor to see it during regular library hours. So please check their website or call them.

And now for folks who live anywhere - the Big Etsy Sale - 20% off anything there

13 days ONLY

Nov 18th at 5 pm to Dec 2nd at midnight at the AnnTracyFineArt Shop

https://www.etsy.com/shop/AnnTracyFineArt? (in case the link didn't work)

Once I recover completely from the dental surgery I had done this week, look for gift cards on the Etsy site too! BUT how could I forgot to mention the member show at the UMVA Gallery at the Portland Media Center, 516 Congress St in Portland???

My work is the small one in the middle, shot by my dear friend Christine Sullivan. It's based on a photo and was printed on Japanese paper and coated with encaustic wax. The show will be up all through November and December. Christine and I will be gallery sitting on Saturday afternoon, Dec 18th from 1 to 4 pm. Hope to see you there if you're in the Portland area.

A Bright Star Shines No More

2021-10-24T16:59:00.001-04:00

Literally. Over two weeks ago, I lost a dear friend who I had known since my radio news days in Gilroy CA.

This photo is from when Kate came to visit in 2012 and we went to Boston for a couple of days. She was standing in front of Paul Revere's house in the North End.

Kate Maney and I bonded over tacos and beer when she ran a constituent office for a state assembly member whose office was across the hall from the News & Public Affairs office for KWSS radio when I was news director in the mid-80s. I was lucky enough to have directed her one-act play, The Atelier about five different women artists that we did for Women's History Month at the Institute for Design & Experimental Art, Sacramento, CA (3/93).

She had just moved back to Sacramento so her son Noah could go to Vet Tech school. A few weeks later she was diagnosed, became ill, and passed on.

She really wanted Noah to become a licensed Vet Tech, so I started a Go-Fund-Me project to raise funds to help Noah finish school. You can copy and past this link: https://gofund.me/81079029

Or if that is not working for you, click HERE.

Remember this poster? From waaaay back in the 90s when I was acting in an original piece that we took to the #EdinburghFringeFestival when I was running Beyond the Proscenium. I was going thru some fall/winter clothes and found the remaining sweatshirt that we have from that era... It was an amazing experience and Kate Maney helped us raise money to get the show there. I actually got fan letters from young men who had seen the show. I was in my mid-40s at the time.

In more recent news, I'm happy to announce that one of my digital alchemy images made it into the 2nd issue of Cuba Seen along with other wonderful work by very talented photographers. The work is based on photos I took during a workshop with @ElizabethOpalenik and #SantaFePhotoWorkshops in Havana in 2014. I would so love to go back there.

But I was lucky to meet up with Elizabeth at the #CarverHillGallery in #CamdenMaine this past week at the artists' reception. I hope that we can meet up again sometime in the near future. Would love to do another workshop with her and I highly recommend her for photographers. She will stretch your mind.

September Already?

2021-09-06T14:57:00.001-04:00

I hope we get one more week of warm weather before fall begins. There's a little state park out here I want to visit that has a beach. But I will be a traveling woman once again when I go up to the University of Maine-Orono on Tuesday for the final exhibition of the Kneeling Art Photography Project and a round table discussion with the students.

I started work on this with artist Titi deBaccarat this past fall not really knowing what I should be doing and finally found my rhythm within a few months. Not only was I one of the photographers, I helped out by writing news releases and sending them off to the media list that I've developed over the past 10 years that I've lived back in Maine.

I wasn't able to do much this spring as we packed up and then moved in June. Then a week later I got the studio moved out of Open Concepts down in the East Bayside area of Portland. Then a week after that I had horrible dental surgery (you really don't want the gory details) and I didn't have strong enough pain pills and was miserable for about 3 weeks after that.

Then I had company and couldn't go to the opening of our exhibit at the UMVA Gallery at the Portland Media Center (PMC) and then there was a panel discussion I missed about the role of art in social justice issues. Lucky for both me and you, PMC video taped it and then put it up on their You Tube station... click here.

In other arty news, I'm making a few 4 x 4" blocks with photo images of Maine on them like these:

It's been an experiment with first printing on a thin archival paper (but not liking the loss of details in printing) and now experimenting with bamboo paper which lets the pigment (archival) ink really soak in for vibrancy. They were going to be part of the Art Fest in Camden the beginning of Oct, but the Library which produces it, cancelled b/c of the rise in covid cases in Knox and surrounding counties. Which is probably just as well. Who wants to be around people whose vaccination status is not known?

Right now, I do have some work at the Meetinghouse Arts Gallery, 40 Main St. in Freeport. Come October I'll be gallery sitting down in Freeport on 10/10 (noon to 4 pm), 1 to 5 pm on 10/16 and then 10 to 1 on 10/17. Swing by and say HI if you're in the 'hood.

Another project I'm working on is greeting cards with Maine images on them. I'll be posting them on my etsey site - https://www.etsy.com/shop/AnnTracyFineArt - probably by the end of the week.

Stay healthy my friends and share kindness with all.

Still unpacking

2021-08-22T14:30:00.002-04:00

Just about the whole house has been unpacked (except for the I don't know what do to with this item that used to have a place in our old place, etc... we'll just call it the Mystery Room) Our guest room shares space with the home office for now. Once they finish my new studio and I get my stuff moved out of the basement, then that office stuff will move down here to the basement and we can move the dresser that's up in the Mystery Room down to the guest room. And on and on it goes.

Heard from our contractor last week that they maybe could start this week... but haven't heard anything else to date. So I just have to "sit with it" and do as much stuff as I can down here, b/c my friends the art world doesn't stop!

Cushing Historical Society Art Barn

This is the place where the KCAS (Knox Country Arts Society) had a group show last weekend. I had several pieces in the show and sold a limited edition copy of this piece... click here to see it on my Fine Art America site.

In addition to that show, I gallery sat for two shifts at the Meetinghouse Arts Gallery in Freeport where I have some work now and will pick up the old stuff there tomorrow and deliver some new work for the next show - The Color of Light. So of course I'm going to be showing a black and white image of the moon! Sometimes light is white, right?

Do you like Hokusai, the Japanese artist? I most certainly do. So much so I made this encaustic mixed media piece as a tribute to him.

I just recently discovered that a Japanese theatre/dance troupe is presenting a multi media piece about him. Click here to go to the link to access it on the Edinburgh Fringe Festival site.

Here's to getting more stuff put away in the studio this coming week and starting to work on some pieces I want to re-do. And some smaller pieces for the nest KCAS show which will be part of a bigger arts festival in Camden. So I'm limited to acrylic and mixed media pieces at the moment b/c I don't want to try to set up the ventilation system for it and right now, with the Pilates reformer I share the space with, there really isn't the room for it. I envision making many encaustic pieces this winter when I've moved into the new studio.

OK... how about one more link to work that's available through the studio through Etsy? Here you go!

Slowly Settling

2021-07-18T16:34:00.000-04:00

The only thing I've got set up in the studio is my computer, printer and desk. This is primarily b/c we didn't get enough stuff unpacked before the studio moved (a separate event) and I really needed to get the house more settled. And then wham - dental surgery - kicked my ass for over a week now. Didn't have the right pain meds and it was a horrible experience. All I could do were meditation tapes, ice my face and try to knock myself out with weed tincture. I'm still recovering from it all. And we are still surrounded by cardboard in some rooms...

I have some work at the Meetinghouse Arts Gallery in Freeport until August 15th in the Community of Artists show. The gallery shares space with a performing arts site and a very diminished church congregation. It's located at 40 Main St, Freeport, ME 04032, across the street and just south of the big LL Bean store. And I'll be gallery sitting the afternoon of July 27th from 2 to 5 pm and the following morning from 10 am to 1:30 pm. Please stop by if you can.

The Kneeling Art Photography Project had some great exhibitions up in Waterville at the Maine International Film Festival and at Colby College, while the photos were also being shown at the Francis, a boutique hotel on Congress St., in Portland. It next travels to the UMVA Gallery at the Portland Media Center, 516 Congress St., Portland, in August if you've missed it at any of the other venues.

Grateful to #MPR - Maine Public Radio for their story on the project - click here for link.

Coming up in August, I'll be showing some work with other artists from the KCAS - Knox County Arts Society at the Art in the Barn show in Cushing, ME From August 12th to the 15th. And I will be gallery sitting from 1:30 to 5:30 on the last day of the show, Sunday, Aug 15th. Come on down and say Hi.

After getting an email from Don Archer, one of the wizards of digital art and the guy who created MOCA - Museum of Computer Art, I went over there and saw that I did have some work in one of the galleries: click here.

So it might be time to refresh with some new work and a new page! Check out the other wonderful work by other digital alchemists as well as my stuff.

And on a personal note, I'll still be masking inside public places even though I'm vaxxed. There are just too many wackos out there who are thinking it's all over. Sorry folks, covid rates are starting to climb again and unless we get more people vaxxed, we'll probably be looking at more quarantine time come late fall and early winter. I so hope I'm wrong on this, but many other health professionals feel the same way.

Moving On Up

2021-06-26T17:15:00.000-04:00

Remember that theme song from the TV series The Jeffersons? Now it's an ear worm, right? I'll be humming it as we pack to move from the condo up the coast to Rockport. Maybe I'll even have the energy to make my own little box robot when we start putting things away! LOL Probably not.

Well... here's another blog post that I started a few weeks ago and am now just realizing that I didn't publish it yet. But we have officially moved up to Rockport, about 90 minutes north of Portland, along the coast of Maine. The studio will move up here next week and be temporarily housed in the finished basement of the house until my new studio is remodeled up over the garage. Which the way the contractor is moving, might be September.

But one thing I did do was to donate some artwork (prints of a limited edition series) to a very worthy cause. I hope you can go to this site and find something that speaks to you to help support this worthwhile group.

https://app.galabid.com/icebailart/items#

The site is up and is set to View Only until Sunday, June 27th when bidding will begin. We have had incredible interest in this auction and anticipate it to be a success. 32 artists, mostly from Maine but as far away as Florida, Texas, and New Mexico have donated a total of 54 items. Two more artists are submitting works this weekend. This auction has been shared with many individuals as well as many immigration justice groups across the country. Media releases have been sent to news sources across the state.

The auction is scheduled to begin accepting bids starting this Sunday, June 27th at 8:00 AM EST and will run until 8:00 PM EST Tuesday, June 29th.

https://app.galabid.com/icebailart/items#

I also have some work over at The Francis, a lovely boutique hotel on Congress St. in Portland during the month of July, as part of the Kneeling Art Photography Project.

Please help us fund the book by making a donation, which is tax deductible though Creative Portland.

May Musings

2021-05-22T15:03:00.000-04:00

First off the bat - happiest of birthdays to my stellar little sister - Jude - you are the best! Here we are in May, the kickoff to the non-winter season in Maine! Actually April kinda is but it sometimes snows like it did this year. So that's why I'm beginning in May.

This May will be different in that we will be organizing for a move in mid-June to Rockport, a coastal village about 90 minutes north of where we are now. It mostly boils down to not enjoying the condo life here at Applegate, which attracts little old ladies who should be in independent living situations and who don't have anything (apparently) to occupy their minds other than bitching about stupid shit to their neighbors. Plus the fact that many there refuse to let owners put solar on their roofs, even if they sign a document that says they (not the association) are fiscally responsible for said roof.... Of course this is the same bunch of people who have a hard time distinguishing between what to recycle and what to compost... sigh. Didn't realize people are still so stupid about that.

We literally could not find a suitable place in our price range in the Portland area. Too many people are moving up here and really driving RE costs sky high. Word has gotten out that this is a great place to live especially if you can work from home.

And while I'm trying to organize for another big move, I'm also co-curating a show for UMVA on the blog with Christine Sullivan - click here

The photo above is me in my "costume" for a TV commercial that my fabu agents at Dirigo Talent got me. They wanted the actors to show up in a work costume, so since I'm primarily an artist, I sent this photo in and they liked it! The spot should be good and it's to encourage people to get vaccines which is badly needed, so I didn't mind being a "featured extra" in it and not being paid much. It's an important message!

During a break, I shot this selfie over my shoulder. We were all masked throughout.

We were shooting out at Wolf's Neck State Park up in Freeport. And boy was it cold with the wind coming in off the little bay there. I forgot to bring a coat, (can I blame the pandemic?) but this great guy dressed in a clerical collar went to his car to get me the blue fleece that I'm wearing in this shot over my apron and the wool sweater I did remember to bring.

And if that wasn't enough excitement, the Kneeling Art Photo Project has a new partner with LumenArrt!, another project from the folks at UMVA. You can read about it by clicking this link here.

Or you can copy and paste the link below:

https://www.pressherald.com/2021/05/03/mainers-take-a-knee-for-photo-project-aimed-against-racism/

I will only be in town for the first exhibit opening at a space at 525 Danforth St., in Portland's West End. If you're in town, please stop by between 5 and 8 pm for music, performance by a dance group and possibly a food truck! All this in addition to 80 photographs of folks taking a knee for racial and social justice! Another good cause that we so need to face in this country.

I started this post on May 4th and now finishing it on May 22nd, which shows how insane this month has been. I won't be posting at all in June b/c I realize that I have to pack up studio before we really start packing up the house, b/c the house moves first and then a week later, the studio.... WHEEEEEEE

I've been a fan of AfroFuturism since I first saw Pharoah Sanders back in the early 70s in Boston. This continued when I discovered Parliment Funkadelic in the mid 70s... and then I discovered Octavia Butler's books a few years back.

So when I saw this article in Hyperallergeic, I wished I could go to southern California to see this show! Maybe one day Alia Ali will have a show in Boston or New York!

It's ALIVE...... so pick up the phone

2021-04-11T14:44:00.000-04:00

The international art project - Telephone - is now live! Here's a link to this on-line exhibit featuring over 900 artists around the globe, including your truly just outside Portland Maine. What a gift it was when Executive Director Nathan Langston announced the project and I signed on for this round two, having made a video for the first version that was launched five years ago. This one differs in that it's HUGE and it's amazing and I love all the artists involved in it!

Click here to experience Telephone

None of the artists - other than the first ones who received a quote from a book - knew what the beginning message was. All we had was the image (mine was a photograph) and our intuition. I made an abstract painting in response to the photo.

They even ran a little article in the local fishwrap about the event - click here.

Here is what my part of the game looked like and the other two artists that received it. I'm amazed what they came to understand about the piece, which I called "To the Light".

Click here to find my part in this huge project.

Although one of the artists who received this talks about the "orange", it's actually gold acrylic paint.

Coming up: Latest news about the Kneeling Art Photography Project and the Love/Rage: Goddess online show that I'm co-curating for UMVA - Union of Maine Visual Artists. After these two projects are put to bed, it's time to organize and deconstruct the studio for our move up to Rockport - most likely in July.

Is April the Cruelest Month?

2021-04-08T16:22:00.003-04:00

Literary references aside, for us here in Maine, yes, it is. Cruel because it should be warmer and we should be able to plant flowers and veg - but - Maine. This part of the spring is referred to as Mud Season. But for a literary discussion on it, I found this interesting:

https://interestingliterature.com/2021/01/ts-eliot-april-is-the-cruellest-month-meaning-origin/

So when we got our offer accepted for the Rockport house, I immediately joined the KCAS - Knox County Art Society. Apparently at the best time, as they have put together an art show for the Rockport Public Library and I have a piece in it! When the show is over I'll post a photo of the piece which is a digital photo enhanced with encaustic wax, after being printed on Japanese paper. We got a mention in the local fishwrap too

So the house is officially ours now as we closed last week on it. But now the waiting begins as there are a couple of things we need to do before we can move up there and then put our condo on the market. Because of all the folks from other parts of NY and New England moving up here, not only is the RE market HOT - but contractors are slammed as the other residents are doing a whole lot of renovations too. So for those of you not on Facebook, here are a few photos I copied from the RE site.

This is a drone view which shows this neighborhood about 15 minutes away from the ocean

This shows the front of the house which faces south

This shows the view we have from our back deck.


This shows the kitchen if you were standing in front of the fridge. The door you see open leads to the mud room.


This is the dining room from the hall that leads out to the bathroom, guest room/office and living room area. We will be replacing the tacky ceiling light. It kinda shows the deck out back, which should be great for having folks over in the summer for BBQ.


This is the finished "walk out" basement where I'll have my studio until the contractor finishes the space above the garage in the loft where the studio will be located once it's finished... maybe August if I'm lucky.

This is the back of the house.

We really want to move ASAP, but are being held back b/c the 2nd floor is all carpeted and that's not good for us with our elderly schnauzers. But it's a 4 week wait for materials and then another 3 weeks for installation so if we can move by the 4th of July, I'll be surprised.

Marching Forward....

2021-03-12T16:11:00.001-05:00

Yeah, I know, lazy ass title for this blog post, but I'm a tired old dog this Friday... for a number of reasons I won't bore you with. But one of the things I was thinking of doing this week, and actually did a bit of exploration on, is the the NFT - non fungable token.

Since much of my work is digitally based, I thought, why not? But a deeper inspection, highlighted by this Hyperallergic article, suggests it my not be a good thing for Mother Earth... I suppose the only way to do it is to buy carbon offsets as a mea culpa. Considering I'm facing a move in May, we'll see how long I hold this idea.

My fabu agent - Dirigo Talent - got me another gig that I filmed at home, without the aid of pros in the lighting and makeup arena.... and boy it shows in this You Tube video. I definitely look even older than I am - 69. I should have called my friend Phil Cormier to help with it. He's a fabulous cinematographer who shot the little Damnationland short I did a few years back - Sui Generis. I can't thank Jenny Anastasof, the co-writer and director, enough for casting me.

OK... enough of the words, words, words.... here is the latest photo I took with the iPod. If you can guess where I took it or what it is, email me and I will send you a 5 x 7" print.

In my little neck of the woods here in Maine - Portland - we've had a fake spring going on. So I'm going to go meet some of my Pilates mates for a patio cocktail b/c TGIF! Here in Maine we take advantage of every bright, lovely day to make merry... hope you have a merry weekend.

Love Your Mother Earth

2021-02-03T13:47:00.001-05:00

I'm a big fan of the German artist Joseph Beuys, who used small installations as a way to speak about how we need to wake up to environmental issues. He has been a hero to me in the ways that he has included environmental issues in his art, as I do from time to time. This encaustic painting is one of my environmental pieces:

"Whale Heart: Save the Ocean"

If you're interested,it's available through the studio or here at my Etsy site:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/955858403/heart-of-a-whale-save-the-ocean?ref=listing_published_alert#

But what made me think of environmental art and Beuys was this video about a couple in England who use grass and photography to make art.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cibOtoYn6d0&feature=youtu.be

Special thanks to Diane Smook of the Professional Women Photographers group that I belong to. Yes, I stole this from her post on the PWP

In other news, it looks as if we are moving to Rockport! The condo life is not for us (tales best told with glasses of wine when we can gather) but prices here in Portland are getting sky high b/c of the pandemic flight from NY and Boston. But RE prices 90 minutes north in Rockport are not as bad. And our offer was accepted. Commercial space for studios though are hard to come by, so after we close in April, work will begin on a new studio in the loft over the 2 car garage. But it will take 3 months to finish so I'll be setting up a temp studio in the finished basement of the house. Won't be able to do encaustic until the studio is finished b/c it's a bitch to set up the venting system and then have to redo it again. Or, maybe I'm just lazy.

Artists in their Studios

2021-01-18T17:46:00.000-05:00

Unusual for me to post one week after the first post of the month, but what the heck, I'm happy that I got to see my friend Kifah Abdullah in his studio as I was shooting a photograph of him taking a knee for the Kneeling Art Photography Project. You can check out his website here.

Kifah is a wonderful artist who I met when we first moved here and we both were part of the now defunct Constellation Gallery in Portland Maine. He's not only a visual artist, but also a poet and writer as well.

I was thrilled that he wanted to take part in the Kneeling Art Photography Project. I hope You too will thrill me by making a small contribution to this project. Since we have a nonprofit fiscal sponsor (Creative Portland), you will get a tax deduction for your donation. Click here to donate and help me and all the other photographers working on this wonderful art & social justice project.

I was lucky enough to have a piece of work published in the Maine Arts Journal, along with other wonderful artists. Lots of wonderful work in this winter edition, please check the entire edition out.

And if you're looking for gifts, why not a gift certificate from my Etsy shop - click here.

I know I need to change up the art on that gift certificate, but first I have to process the rest of Kifah's photos (and send him some to use on social media) and then the photos of my good friend and activist Harlan Baker.