I caught up with Tracy Proctor at Swirl Fine Art and Design - the gallery that she owns. She talked to me about her art, the business of being a gallery owner and the creative process in general.
We start by discussing her background as an artist. Proctor explains, "I've always been interested in art since I was very small. I never did have any formal training for art. I looked into going to art college but my dad discouraged me from that. He was a conservative oil patch type and wanted me to have a practical degree."
Proctor continued taking art classes for enjoyment but, "I got really involved in it so I'd come home from work every day and paint. I got into a gallery as an artist and it started taking up more and more of time and it started interfering with my job. I decided in 2006 to pursue art full-time."
There's a sense of satisfaction in her voice as she points out, "I started selling my art and it surprised me that I was selling it for the prices I was selling it for. I thought maybe you could make a living doing this. I had more and more shows but then an opportunity presented itself at Arts Central. The economy was really great at the time so I thought maybe it was time to do it."
Inspiration and Technique
We talk about her inspiration when she's creating works of art and she says, "For me when I paint its super emotional. I think that's something very important when you're creating art is to try and evoke those emotions and turn them into something on the canvas. I think more than anything its your state of mind when you're producing art. The best way to do that is to be happy with what you're painting, where you're painting and being in a creative mindset."
Proctor's excitement is palpable when she talks about the process of encaustic painting that she works with. She explains, "I work hot with beeswax. The wax is about 225 deg. F and there's also a resin that's mixed in with the sap which makes it really hard and changes the melting point so its not going to melt on somebody's wall and the pigments are mixed into that. I mix my own colours and I also make my own wax which is from local producers."
She continues, "There's all sorts of different techniques and ways to apply the paint. I typically use the heat gun. I love the blowtorch but its little bit more dangerous. The reason I love the technique is that you can get such wonderful textures and translucency. I use a lot of metallic highlights in my work. It gets fused into the wax and it creates light."
One of the features of encaustic painting is the fact that the wax hardens quickly. When Proctor talks about this she says, "I'm working so fast that I think the work comes out a lot from me rather than from the photo source I'm using. Its very physical because it happens so quickly. You have to get it on there and you have to know where your strokes are going."
There's pride in Proctor's voice when we discuss her artistic output. She points out, "This past year I sold 52 paintings which is by far a record. Some of them are small and I think the biggest one I've done is 6 ft. by 4 ft. A lot of times I'll work on three or four paintings at a time. I'll do something in one and that'll give me an idea for another one. I do about twenty a month. I will often do one in a day but its a long day. Its all about my mindset."
Artistic Choices
Our conversation turns to how Proctor chooses the artists that she shows. She says, "The biggest thing for me when I'm picking artists is that I need to love the art and I need to have a lot of respect for the artist. I have a collection of stuff that I love. When I first started I wasn't as clear about which artists to represent but now I can look at their portfolio and know if they'll fit for me."
She adds that she has a strong focus on local artists. She says, "I have 16 artists and I think 13 of them are from the city of Calgary. I've decided to keep that as my philosophy because I think its so important. I think we need to embrace the uniqueness of the culture here in Western Canada."
There's a sense of excitement when Proctor tells me her future plans. She says, "I've been concentrating so hard on selling art from here that I really want to get my art out into other places in Western Canada"
We finish as Proctor talks about the growth of the arts scene in Calgary. She says, "I think people are starting to embrace the importance of art a bit more than they were years ago. The community's grown and with a change in technology its easier for artists who aren't in a gallery to get their work out into the community."
For more information please visit: Swirl Fine Art
This interview with Tracy Proctor was conducted on January 6, 2012 via telephone.
