Upcoming (small) Show!

I've been honored with an exhibit at Saint Paul's East Side Arts Council! If you come out on the 10th for the opening, you'll find me there creating art on site. The Arts Council Gallery is a compact space, so I'll be exhibiting a couple large paintings along with many smaller original works -- as well as some reproductions and greeting cards. These will be on display through the end of April.

Opening and Art Demo: Tuesday, March 10, 6 to 8 p.m.

East Side Arts Council is at 977 Payne Avenue, Saint Paul, 55130

My Kingdom for a Horse

Flying Duchess, 20 x 20" oil on canvas, available, $500. Fine reproduction prints start at $17 on paper, $42 on canvas.

This is a painting I'd been meaning to create for months -- and I finally did it because I had committed to a show and I had a deadline.

The show is called My Kingdom for a Horse, and opens Saturday, 10/5, from 4 to 9 pm at the Stillwater Art Guild Gallery.  I'm one of 18 artists who was invited to exhibit, and it's been a real honor to be chosen.

The heat isn't off, though! Because now I'm getting ready, and still making art, for Saint Paul Art Crawl -- which begins Friday at 6.  I'm a guest artist at J.A. Geiger Studio where a lot of fun events will be going on for Josephine Geiger's 10th Anniversary celebration.

The notion of deadlines as bad things, as stress and restriction and everything art should avoid, is in my experience all wrong. I seek them out, because they cause me to become productive and creative in new ways. The pressure overcomes the other fears that go along with the creative process; when there's a deadline, perfectionism has to step out of the way.

What the heck is Saint Paul Art Crawl?

Saint Paul Art Crawl 

Friday, April 26, 6- 10 pm; Sat., April 27, 12 - 8 pm; Sun., April 28, 12- 5 pm. 

Orange Ranunculus, 10 x 8" oil on panel, is one of the pieces I'll have available at Art Crawl this month.

So what is Saint Paul Art Crawl, anyway? I've noticed, when I say "Art Crawl," people smile and nod, politely pretending to know what I mean.

Saint Paul Art Crawl is around 300 artists opening up their studios on one weekend and inviting everyone to come on in.  The bulk of these artists are in Lowertown St. Paul, but many (like myself) are part of "Crawl Off the Map" in other parts of town.

It's a busy weekend, with all kinds of people, and art, and everyone moving from one space to another. Crawl has a very relaxed atmosphere similar to an outdoor art fair.  Just without all the bugs and muddy spots.

                                             
I'll be making animal sketches, like the ones above, from people's photos "On the Spot," in about 20 to 30 minutes. I only do this at Art Crawl. Bring me a photo of your creature (all breeds and species welcome) and I will make a drawing while you're there. If you like the results, you hand me $20 and take it home.  If you don't have an animal, it's still fun to watch. I'm an instructor and if you're not careful you might learn some stuff by accident.

You'll find me with Josephine Geiger, Brenda Brousseau, and Christy Johnson, at J. A. Geiger Studio at 1647 Beech Street, just off 94 and White Bear. Parking on the street is free at our location.

A Forbidden Romance!

Don't Tell Your Family, Darling. 5 x 7" oil on canvas board, $50.

I had so much fun with Snobs that I decided to do a little more with my bunch of models. I thought about what would happen if one of the Snobs fell for the Lemon. Whoops!

This little piece will be available for $50 at Maple Grove Arts Center, at the opening of the Art & Food Show on the evening of 7/13. I'll be there, making a little painting or two on site, just for fun, so come out, see the art, and watch the demo.

Frameworks Gallery, St. Paul

I'm part of a six-artist show at Frameworks Gallery on Ford Parkway right now. It's a nice place; good art, low-key staff, relaxing, open until 7 most nights -- and you can get food from the Chatterbox, Leeann Chin, Panera, or the Highland Bakery Cafe, all in the same plaza! Or walk across the street to Barnes & Noble for books and/or coffee.

Come out and have a look if you're going through the Highland Park area. Tell 'em Tracie sent you.

Come watch Goldfish hatch! Art Crawl today.

 

Okay, here's where I'll be again in about two hours: At Saint Paul Art Crawl at Josephine Geiger's studio, out in the yard by the goldfish pond, painting more of these tiny 4" square goldfish canvases. Come watch it as a demo -- I love talking to people while I paint -- and if you like, take home a hot-off-the-easel original Goldfish for just $45. I've got three finished from yesterday and hope to make three more before the event ends this afternoon.

$99 Sale at the Soap Factory

Saint Paul Crow, 8 x 10", salvaged metal and wood, oil paint, wax medium. Click to enlarge; for some reason, Blogger makes the thumbnail photos a little blurry.

I have no idea who bought this piece; it had sold by the time I arrived at the show. That made me very, very happy. This is the seventh work in the Crow Series and I plan on creating more.

Can safely say a good time was had. There was some amazing art at the sale, worth much more than the $99 asking price. Also very good food, and an ongoing exhibit I liked a lot. See The Soap Factory's site if you're curious.

Music, Fashion, and (my!) Art at Fine Line Music Café

Clicky clicky on the header for full information!

I will be featured at the Fine Line Music Café on Aug. 25th, in the FUSION Showcase with RAW:natural born artists. Come see my Rescued Materials series of art ... and the slinky little black dress I bought for the event. ;-)

The Fine Line is a great venue, and tickets for the evening of music, art, and fashion are just $10. If you follow my link to purchase, be sure to select my name from the "Support your artist" drop-down menu on the upper right.

Down Among the Briars, and an exhibit in Hudson, WI

Down Among the Briars, 40 x 30" oil and wax medium on canvas, by Tracie Thompson
 This is one of those pieces I enjoy because everyone interprets it differently.

This is at O'Neill Elder Law in Hudson, just across the river from the Twin Cities.  The space is beautiful, and the staff couldn't have been friendlier or more helpful.

Ten pieces, including Down Among the Briars, will be on display through the end of May.

$99 Sale at The Soap Factory!

On Friday night, Sept. 19th, the Soap Factory opened its fourth annual $99 Sale.

The sale featured over 230 works -- each one 5 x 7" in size and priced at just $99. One of them was my New Hope, pictured below, a tiny wall-sculpture made of found objects:




My piece sold within an hour of the show's opening. There was music, great food, beer and wine, and every time I thought I had seen all the art I would discover another piece I had missed.

Toward the end of the night, a team of ghost hunters came in, scheduled to spend the night in the place (which really was a very old soap factory in its former life) looking for evidence of spirits.

I had a wonderful evening and can't wait to do it again next year.

Show at ACT Gallery, Fort Myers, FL

Friday, 3/7/08

It was a beautiful evening. ACT Gallery has a remarkable space, with its antique wood floors and brick walls. Many thanks to Gallery Director, Claudia Goode, for her work in arranging the art.



That's me in the green shirt, having a lot of fun talking to people.

Now for something that I've decided is a Law of the Universe: The art you haven't photographed yet is the art that will sell. I had to go back today and take a photo of this piece while I still could, before its new owner takes it home:



A Thousand Little Stories. Salvaged objects, oil, colored pencil. Approx. 13" high.
$300. SOLD.

To see more of my salvage art, visit my website:
www.traciethompsonart.com

It's great to see this in print.