I have been drawing since I was five years old, and spent my childhood coloring on the margins of my books. In school my notebooks were filled with more doodles than notes, and art was my favorite class. I credit my High School Art & Theatre Teachers for giving me confidence and encouraging me to explore my creativity.
I graduated in 1991 from Community College with an AAS in Advertising/Commercial Art, and promptly went into the veterinary field. I continued to create, however, and over the years have amassed a large collection of art ranging from fantasy to wildlife and nature. I also occasionally accept pet portrait commissions. Over the years, my “real job” has changed, but creating art has remained a constant.
For a long time I worked primarily in colored pencil and pencil, but in 2007, I made a New Year’s Resolution to start painting again. I started with watercolor and aquarelle and created a few pieces of nature, fantasy and spiritual work. Other mediums included acrylics and egg tempera, each medium inspiring its own unique style of art.
In 2014, around Christmas time, I was glaring at a heap of cardboard boxes that had amassed with various holiday ordering and Christmas gift deliveries. I said to my husband, “We need to recycle these boxes, or someone needs to make art out of them- hey, wait…” I decided to see what I could do with cardboard as a medium.
I decided the corrugation of the cardboard lent itself well to tree bark, so the first cardboard work I created was a 3-D tree, complete with individual leaves cut from the peeled bits of cardboard paper. Because I love birch trees, I turned it into a birch tree with a somewhat magical feeling.
My art comes from whatever happens to inspire me. Often images pop into my head and pester me until I create them. At other times a passing image or something I see in nature inspires my art.
It is hard to give my work any specific genre. I’m inspired by the impressionists, as well as many of the artists and photographers I am fortunate to call my friends. I like my art to be organic, spiritual, and evoke feelings of nature, peace, and spirit.
Art is a spiritual, creative, and healing journey for me, and I hope that my work brings a bit of that experience to its viewers.
Tricia Griffith - Fine Art 