We had a treat in class this week - Tracy Miller, artist and owner of the Tracy Miller gallery in Manitou, gave a demo and talked about her exuberant style animals - painted in acrylic.
I have painted with Tracy in different events around Colorado and am represented in her gallery in Manitou, - but I have never been able to sit and just watch how she puts it all together. Her colorful animals are finding their way to posters, bags, and
accessories in venues like TJ Max and U Gallery, an on-line source for
original artwork.
The film festival poster above is testament to the kind of attention her work is getting and she is a generous and active member of the art scene in Colorado Springs.
Using a small piece of reference, Tracy painted the little Cardinal shown above;
then using a simple compositional idea of OUR choice, she created the bison. Tracy has been drawing and painting animals for so many years that she can pull almost any animal out of her head and paint it in a way that communicates.
What a fun morning! I love to see artists work in styles so different from my own, pushing boundaries and inspiring ideas about WHAT is possible.
It is like a breath of fresh air.
Thanks so much to Tracy for sharing with us.