A life-long interest has come full circle with a showing at the local art club show and sale.
Tracy Shaw from Ponoka was the featured artist at the Ponoka Art Club show and sale over the weekend at the Drop-in Centre with several paintings, drawings and other pieces available for sale to the public. The show and sale also included works from other artists who are club members.
Shaw, who returned to a more serious focus on her art three years ago, had her interest piqued when she was young.
“Mostly, it was when I started drawing when I was really young and then my talent started to come out when I was in my teens,” she said.
“After high school, I initially went and started art classes at Red Deer College, but it was not quite what I thought I was going to learn.”
Not long after, family and children came into the picture which saw Shaw place her art world on the backburner. She put the pencils and brushes back in her hand when the kids left the roost. However, it took a bit of assistance for Shaw to get back on that horse.
“I took a drawing class through the art club and that got me going again. I also got started painting from there,” Shaw said, who can produce a piece from as little as a few hours upwards of a few weeks.
“It helped as I met a lot of people, who each provided me with some support as well as ideas and help from time to time. The teachers the club brought in were also very helpful and encouraging.”
As a result, Shaw now focuses a lot of her pieces on animals, the outdoors and the beauty that surrounds us instead of just people and objects.
“I’ve always liked certain things and it’s been my intention to do something like this — a show where I can sell my work,” she stated.
“There are a lot of beautiful things out there that should be appreciated and I want to share all of that with people. It would be nice to be able to sell enough to live off of, but enjoying what I do and hopefully people seeing what I appreciate is good as well.”