Posted 4 years ago
kwqd
(1185 items)
Haven't done an artist of the month lately, so here are some works from my collection by Illinois artist Tracey Frugoli. I think all of these are done on linen wrapped boards made by the artist. She makes great use of light, shadow and color. There are some artists who I have collected whose works don't always make it onto my walls due to lack of space, but I have hung all of her paintings.
"A Little Spring Reading", Tracey Frugoli, 14" x 11", oil on linen on board, 2006. Tracey was showing this newly done painting at an art fair when I happened by. I bought it on the spot, but it was so new that the paint was not yet cured so I had to wait a few months to pick it up.
"Little Colette", Tracey Frugoli, 6" x 8", oil on linen on wood panel, 2007. I had been looking at this little painting on Tracey's web site for months, if not a couple of years, but just had not gotten around to pulling the trigger on it. It was a few hundreds of dollars. She was showing at another art fair and when I stopped by her booth to look at her work, this one had made it into her bargain bin, so I ended up paying a fraction of the original cost for it before mentioning that I had been slobbering on my monitor screen over it for some time. I did not get a smile.
"Santa Fe Stairway With Stealth Cat", Tracey Frugoli, 8" x 6", oil on linen on wood panel, 2009. Purchased from her web site without seeing it in person. Loved that stealth cat.
"Sleepy Kitty", Tracey Frugoli, 8" x 10", oil on linen on wood panel, 2007. I missed a couple of the great paintings of cats she has done, numbering only three counting this one. The story sold me on this one in addition to liking it. This is Theo, AKA King Theoden from Lord of the Rings. This painting is from a photograph of Theo just waking up and peeking out of a basket he was sleeping in. Theo is a "Big Boy", a very large cat, which is not obvious from this painting. This is a really great painting but I have never been able to get a very good image of it nor has she. I looked at it on her web site for some time, but bought it immediately when I saw it in person.
I have one more painting by this artist, the first one that I purchased from her, a great, colorful Midwest Fall scene done while she was artist in residence at the Lorado Taft Field Campus (Eagle's Nest Artist Colony ) in Oregon, IL, which I may rotate into this post at a later date. It is a large (24" x 36") oil on canvas and was her first serious major work. I missed getting several really great works because I was just a bit too slow, but won't forget them... She often works with models and also paints en plein air.
All of them are fantastic! I love the stealth cat...can’t get over it’s spikey “cat-licked” fur! Just adorable!
Thanks for your comment Watchsearcher! She is a really good painter, but has moved more into photography in the last few years... Tracey actually took my suggestion to add "stealth cat" to the title for "Sante Fe Stairway".
Wonderful paintings and excellent write up!!
She has a very romantic and impressionist style that is just so appealing.
Lovely art, Kevin
Thanks jscott0363! She is really good. I've collected her work for almost 20 years.
Thanks Karen. Those feelings are a characteristic of her photography, as well, though I have never developed an interest in photography.
Thanks for taking a look at the paintings by my artist of the month fortapache, plein-air-painter, ttomtucker, Vynil33rpm, dav2no1 and Jenni!
All worth hanging, the first one reminds me a little of Lawrence Alma-Tadema's work and all have excellent use of colour and light !~
Thanks for your comment PhilDMorris! I understand the comparison. Tracey posed one of her models very similarly to Alma-Tadema's "Flora" for one of her paintings. I don't know if that was her inspiration.
https://www.traceyfrugoli.com/workszoom/94720
Thanks for loving my paintings of the month blunderbuss2!
The late 19th century French impressionists didn't work in vain ...
Thanks for your comment, Golgatha! You are right, the French impressionists remain hugely influential. Yay!
Thanks Thomas!
My faves are the first and third!
Nice choices Mrstyndall! Thanks for loving my artist of the month paintings!
The first painting evokes "Ars Poetica" by Archibald MacLeish. "For all the history of grief, An empty doorway and a maple leaf. . .
@WillSol - Interesting idea. I'm not sure I ever asked Tracey what her motivation for this painting was. This was the first of a series of paintings that she did exploring the effects of back lighting. I know that poetry was a component of some of the paintings in this series. Some of the titles reference Keats and poetry, in general. Thanks for your comment and for loving my artist of the month post.
Thanks for taking a look at my paintings Lamplover78 and ttomtucker!
I'm partial to the brushwork in the boat painting.
Thanks for your comment and love, AmphoraPottery! Tracey's style over several years went from realism to sort of abstract impressionism. In some cases abstract expressionism. The boat was between her realism and abstract impressionism journey.
Then that is the sweet spot of her artistic journey for me.
I looked at her website. Wow. She's quite an amazing artist! I love her work!
Thanks for you comment Celiene! It is unfortunate, for me, that she lost interest in painting and moved on to photography, something I've never developed an interest in. Waiting for her new paintings to be posted on her site or blog or shown at various exhibitions was always fun. Some of the things I liked most she never posted on her web site, or have since been taken down.
She says her painting is enhanced by using photographs (From notes on one of her paintings) . She paints from photos, now, too. But it seems she is still painting.
When she was painting, she did sometimes paint from photographs but it has been several years since she added any new paintings to her web site. The last update to her painting blog was in 2012. I stopped going to exhibitions and art fairs several years ago so I don't know if she is still exhibiting. The last new painting I saw by her was in 2017. Her gallery and studio is about 50 miles from here and I haven't been up that way for some time. I haven't sent her an email in some time as I am no longer collecting paintings.
She may have just stopped posting her work online. She is very approachable so don' t be shy about sending her an email. I don't know if the phone number on her web site id good.