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Stacy was born in Michigan to a couple of goodie two-shoed hippies. Gifted with the ideal childhood anyone would want, she resided in Bay City and Midland, MI, through her childhood…just think Mayberry of the early 1970’s. Her family moved to Phoenix, AZ in 1981, where Stacy currently resides, with a couple of side trips along the way.
She went to the University of Arizona in Tucson with the intent to become a teacher. She facetiously thinking they made too much money, so switched to study Fine Arts with an emphasis in figure drawing. Most of her paintings were figurative, people and animals, and a few abstracts. Colors were bold but on the darker side and always misplaced or unrealistic…she always worked on the large scale. After graduating with a BFA in 1994, she moved back to Phoenix with knowledge of how to paint but not how to make a living as an artist. Painting became an outlet, a time for fun, a time to get away, a time to tell a story that could not be expressed with words alone.
She moved to Alaska for the adventure, where she was engulfed in the natural world. She lived in a cabin on a wooded mountain with a requisite outhouse. She had to haul and siphon water for bathing, and diesel fuel for heating. Her appreciation and love for the views nature offered her was enhanced and magnified…leaves and their forever changing form became popular for her to paint, racing time to show their intricacies through the seasons before it was too late. Appreciation for both the simpler things in life and the sheer beauty of all the things in the world become prominent. She challenged her drawing skills with practice, until she had to pick up a brush again and started painting things found in nature on a magnified scale. Then it got really cold, and family was missed.
Once back in Phoenix, she took a job as a receptionist for what was supposed to be a couple of weeks at a consulting firm, she was in the business for 20 years in a variety of roles. Over some of the years she painted more walls then pictures but did continue with her play. She painted in acrylic and dabbled with mixed media. Color usage was sporadic, sometimes just playing with paint to experiment with its capabilities. She was not concerned with the outcome, just the process, and she played. She started to work on a small scale, it was different, but she began to run out of room.
Life continued. She started to use oil paints and to paint with purpose to add curiosity, the unexpected, adding character and color to a room. She also started working on a larger scale again, it felt more natural. She begins with a concept, emotion, memory or object, place or person. Once she had a song as her muse, letting the music guide the motion to bring the vision in head to life. The subject or concept is typically simple or even mundane, and she attempts to give it interest. She is not trying to preach politics, religion, or worldly affairs, just wants to add a smile and curiosity to a space. Sometimes she sketches, and or uses photos to assist with shapes and lines for composition. She also paints freely and intuitively, with heavy mark making, brushing paint on sporadically to see what it tells her to do next. She always selects palettes in bright shades of pinks, blues, yellows, green, purple, red, oranges. Takes photos of the painting in process and then works out ideas from a photo editor before making another brushstroke. Work has been described as eclectic, provocative, sensual, erotic, whimsical, emotional, bold, vibrant, abstract, sensitive, haunting, personal, intimate, happy, and fun.
It took her 20 years, but she is emerging into the artworld, sharing her creations and seeking shows to exhibit and sell her original pieces.
Stacy is an eclectic painter in the pursuit of art and happiness.