My artistic journey has led me from oils to pastels to acrylics to watercolor and back to oils again. In addition, I have painted portraits, still life, landscapes and now I am fascinated by abstract. Currently my personal artistic expression is freed from all adherence to form, allowing me to totally engage with my inner self and grant my creativity permission to flow into my work.

Painting abstracts in oil with cold wax medium is a great revelation to me as it seemed to open me up to possibilities that were not there before. The effects and textures possible are endless. The mystery of this mixture of oil paint with cold wax medium is that it starts out soft and buttery and dries to a smooth satin sheen, leaving the viewer with few clues to how effects were achieved.

The excitement of walking into my creative space, putting my thoughts and feelings onto a canvas is like putting a handful of Pop Rocks into my mouth. The pops are energizing, awakening and some downright hurt.

I use many mediums to get to the image before you. Bursts of color that excite the soul and welcome you to peek into what was once my past and the blinding light of my future. I know not, what will emerge out of my inner feelings, onto the canvas until it is ready to go on the journey with the quiet and sometimes wild artist that exists in me.

Everyone is an artist, no matter the form it may take. Over my lifetime, I have been involved in music, theatre arts, visual arts and writing. This has taken place through degree work, participation, teaching and self-actual application.

I taught students who became joyous at their personal discoveries of talent and on-going success that was so their own. Time is a measurement for the creativity of human beings expressed through art forms. From human chaos and disaster, the arts arise and heal.

For me this exposure has been the stage of theatre and musical performance, the pages of books, the walls of galleries and museums, and my own classroom. A culture/society without this exposure is doomed to the mundane of a laborious existence without exposing the recognition of all beauty.

Art is to be shared. My own paintings have accomplished this belief by joining other artists in sharing shows and gallery space, encouraging people of all ages, and being happy to share with family and friends

Art is a savior of mind, spirit and inner being.

My art draws inspiration from a myriad of life experiences, both past and anticipated. When embarking on a painting, I embrace spontaneity, allowing the image to unfold organically through the interplay of flow, palette knives, and brushes. The bold use of color brings me joy, and the fluid movement in my work feels like a dance with my creative soul. This dynamic fluidity stems from my loose painting process, involving pouring paint, sculpting with a palette knife, and layering. In this creative journey, I aim to capture the natural beauty of Kauai through a unique flow of color and texture. Many of my paintings transform into abstract depictions of nature, each piece an experiment in color and movement, resulting in distinctive and dynamic artwork. I prefer working with the canvas lying flat to explore different perspectives, allowing the painting to evolve with the addition of new colors and layers. Using various tools, I've developed a signature style that captivates viewers with its bright and bold colors, inviting introspection and evoking surprise and delight. Debbie Tracey is an independent artist working with acrylic paint and mediums.