Artist Walters To Show Her ‘True Colours’
“I paint what I feel,” says the Bermuda-based artist. “Sometimes the canvas is as dark as my mood and sometimes it overflows with colour when I’m happy.”
That’s how Tricia Walters describes the work in her first solo exhibit, “True Colours”, which opens at the Bermuda Society of Arts City Hall gallery on June 10.
“When I’m working the brush becomes an extension of my soul; the paint my emotions. Ultimately painting is a form of meditation.”
Tricia worked as a journalist at various Bermuda media outlets before taking a sabbatical early in 2010 to pursue her photography and writing.
She joined Bermuda Society of Art [BSoA] several years ago, exhibiting her photography, but it wasn’t until January this year, a month before her 40th birthday that she first started experimenting in painting.
“I call it my mid-life challenge. It happened quite by accident. I had no intention of painting, but I had an old photograph lying in my study, printed on canvas, and thought it would be fun to do something with it.”
She chose acrylics because, as she explains, they were relatively inexpensive. “Believe it or not I buy all my acrylics from Masters and other DIY stores. And that first painting was completed with a ratty old DIY brush that cost me about $2.”
It was hard to stop with just one painting. “I rushed down to the shop and bought about five blank canvases in various sizes. One thing led to another and when I first exhibited my work, I actually sold one.
“I felt there was so much I still wanted to express through paint that I continued, adding watercolour to my arsenal, which was actually rather terrifying. Watercolour has a mind of its own and I can manipulate it the way I can acrylics.”
As a trained journalist and photographer, Ms Walters has no formal background in art. “The last art class I had was in grade five and sometimes I’m afraid it shows.
“I’m terrified that someone will look at my work and think it immature, but I’ve picked up quite a bit by taking classes through the BSoA and I know that if I keep going it will only get better.”
“I’m a strong believer in learning by looking, by watching others work and of course by reading. It’s the journalist in me. You can learn anything from books.”
Ms Walters and her husband Mark have been living in Bermuda for about nine years. ”Bermuda is unique not only in its architecture and people, but also in the way the light changes with the seasons and location.
“I would return to a spot where I had taken a photo five years ago, only to find that it now looks completely different. In a way I guess the island was evolving and that’s where the concept of my own evolution
in art was born.”
“I guess every artist eventually finds their own unique style, but what you’ll find with my work is that it changes with my moods. I paint what I feel. One day I can paint using soft romantic translucent colours and the next day I’ll be slopping bright reds and yellows on paper in an explosion of emotion.”
“The ‘True Colours’ is my first solo exhibit and it’s a reflection of my transformation, or evolution from photography to acrylics and watercolours.
“As well as the changes in subject matter from abstract to something I hope you will find unique.”
Read More About
Category: All, Entertainment
