(AlmostThere 5 by Janice Tracy (Inset) Janice Tracy)
“There’s nothing like commandeering a space in your house and claiming it in the name of Art to jumpstart your artistic ambitions,” Janice Tracy said about her studio in a converted bedroom in the house she shares with her husband Drew outside of Sisters. “Once I claimed a room in our house in the early 2000s, I felt like I had to justify such a lavish use of space by creating some art worthy of being made by someone who calls themselves ‘Artist.’”
Tracy’s first foray into art was in the 1990s when she took a watercolor painting class at Central Oregon Community College. Since those early days, she has moved through pastels, oil paints, acrylics, collage and even digital paint. Today, her studio is crammed with books, paints, pencils, brushes, paper, canvas and every style of artwork in every stage of completion. She says she has struggled to stick with a signature look, as her love of innovation surpasses her need to build a following for any particular well-regarded piece.
As her art progressed, so did Tracy’s tendency to get nose-deep in the organization of the arts and artists where she lived. Her affinity for helping her fellow artists and herself improve and find exhibition outlets led to her leadership as president of the Society of Washington Artists as well as secretary of Mosaic Arts Alliance, both headquartered in Vancouver, Washington. When her family moved back to Central Oregon, she found herself looking around for another such group and found the Dry Canyon Arts Association (DCAA), which is in a fast-growing phase with numerous plans for enriching Redmond and its surrounding area with art culture and education. Today, Tracy (Jan to her friends) is again nose-deep in organization as the marketing director for DCAA.
Tracy has lived on both sides of the Cascades and it shows in her work, which often reflects mountain, forest and coastal scenes. Her approach to art is to capture a place, a moment or a notion in the hope that the viewer can experience it with her. Although the medium and method may change, her subjects always tend toward landscape with the exception of the occasional dog. And don’t be surprised if you find a bear wandering through one or two of those landscapes. She appreciates a smile or chuckle as a reaction as much as she enjoys seeing viewers awed by a mountain scene.
Tracy has exhibited her art throughout the northwest, selling pieces from Edmonds, Washington to Northern California. She strives to continue to improve by entering at least one juried art exhibit per year. She has racked up some impressive wins and ribbons in this way (and a few “no thanks” as well, she hastens to add).
A celebratory Artist of the Month reception will be held at Cascade Hasson Sotheby’s International Realtors during downtown Redmond’s First Friday Artwalk on August 2 from 5-8pm. Tracy’s eclectic array of artwork will be on full display, with hors d’oeuvres and wine on hand for all who join in the party. Everyone is invited to come downtown, duck out of the summer heat for a moment, and enjoy Tracy’s creative viewpoint.
As Tracy says, “For art to surpass a photograph of a thing of beauty, it must reach beyond the image to reproduce the sensation of the moment. This is my goal in every piece of art.”