about the artist

About the Artist:
Tracy W. Tramm

I’ve been drawing for as long as I remember, but didn’t start painting until my late twenties. Since then, it has evolved into an obsession for me. I consider myself a self-taught artist, although I’ve attended workshops at the Academy of Fine Art in Seattle and also studied closely the works of other artists. I’ve exhibited throughout the Seattle-Tacoma area and my works can be found in numerous private collections.

Every artist has a theory on what art is…What I strive for is an ‘honest’ interpretation of what I see and feel about the subject. I’m not interested in creating photographically perfect or precisely executed images and I will sometimes distort line, color, or shape to better convey an idea.

I also try not to limit myself to any one subject matter, mood, or color palette. I think that what is most important is to try and capture a definite mood. I have found that no matter what the subject, if the painting successfully conveys a common human emotion, whether it be on the dark or light side of things, that it usually has some kind of ‘universal’ appeal and can be appreciated by most people.

The majority of my paintings are done from life. I prefer to have the subject directly in front of me and to try to capture the image as quickly as possible, to avoid losing touch with what initially interested me in the subject. I think this makes for a more powerful and inspired painting…Ideas for some of my more ‘expressionist’ paintings have come to me from a memory, an experience or virtually out of nowhere. In these cases I’ll make a small, simple sketch which will later be used to base the painting on. Sometimes these are the most fun to paint as it’s easier to break free of any limitations imposed by looking at a ‘real’ object, which allows me the freedom to paint strictly from imagination.

~ Tracy W. Tramm

Last Update: 04/08/2006 03:01:40 PM