Tracye Sowders: Sheltered Wanderlust
September 4-25, 2020
Tracye Sowders: Sheltered Wanderlust
Opening reception: Friday, September 4, 5:00-7:00 PM
Gallery hours: Wednesdays, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM and other days (Monday-Friday 9 AM – 5 PM) by appointment only. Please note, the Emporium will be closed Monday, September 7, for the holiday.
With these works, the artist has endeavored to push the boundaries that encourage our Oneness with the Universe.
My work is influenced by discovery through travel geographically or mindfully. When I am able to travel, I seek the golden thread of sheer existence that binds us all to one another. I seek the silk that weaves us together with nature, and all of it’s glorious, dazzling color. I paint about the light that settles in our souls, and the idea that there is a natural touchstone for all of us.
When I am able to travel, physically, my psyche is so enriched by the diversity of cultures rich in honor, hope and tranquility.
I seek the water, always, and all nature. I watch all the different souls, souls like mine that are full of wanderlust.
Lately, there’s been no travel. It’s been a time for reflection, a grounding and resting. Days are simpler, so I wandered anyway.
I went to Lake Como, and took a nap with a furry friend in the sun. I visited Tuscany, and gathered grapes under the sun. I went back in time and revisited old vacations, down Route 66.
Yet, it took a “shelter in place” suggestion to allow me to see the beauty of my own home. I’d been wandering so long, I’d forgotten about the spectacular beauty of our mountain paradise. I allowed that to spill out onto my canvas. My work saved me. It allowed me epiphanies not dreamt of. It sheltered me, and brought me peace.
Artist Bio:
Tracye Burnett Sowders, b. 1965 in Baptist Hospital, Knoxville Tennessee is a prolific painter in various media including watercolor, oils, pen and ink, alcohol inks, and oil pastels.
She is also a calligrapher, hand quilter and needleworker, illustrator, and pianist.
At 16, Tracye’s junior year high school art teacher encouraged her to paint something big, noir and completely outside her artistic comfort zone, and to use a dark watercolor pallette. He gave her a good Japanese watercolor brush, and her first set of brushes. Her teacher submitted her work to the National Honor Society Nation-wide Art Contest. She won, and her love affair with watercolors began.
She continued to major in art, music and psychology with an emphasis on art and music therapy for children on the autism spectrum at Carson-Newman University.
With a year of college left, she met her husband and started another love affair – with her family.
Three sons and thirty years later, and having never painted since college, one day in May she found her old Japanese watercolor brushes and began painting again. Now she exhibits regularly throughout Knoxville, Sevierville, Gatlinburg, Nashville, and parts of New England including Manhattan and Staten Island. Her original watercolors, oils and quilts are in private collections all over the United States, Australia, Canada, Scotland Wales, Ireland, England and New Zealand.
She regularly participates in various festivals and exhibitions across the southeast and New England.
Currently, she and her husband Kevin are working on plans for a mobile art gallery. You can’t keep a wanderer down for too long.
Locally, you can find both original works and prints at Smoky Mountain Art Gallery in Gatlinburg, Ijam’s Nature Center Art Gallery, The Knoxville Visitors Center, The Emporium Center for Arts and Culture, Colour Trails Art Alliance, Tea & Treasures, The Bijou Theatre, Pour Taproom and Merchants of Beer.
For more information, follow her on Instagram @TracyeBurnettSowdersArtist or find her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/tracye.sowders.