Lee Tracy
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Lee Tracy Blackhawk Studio
New to Chicago My first still life. TRACY-01-SL2400-0001 TRACY-01-SL2400-0048 TRACY-01-SL2400-0057 TRACY-01-SL2400-0058 IMG_2832 IMG_2831 TRACY-01-SL2400-0047 IMG_2833 IMG_2840 IMG_2841 IMG_2842 IMG_2843 IMG_2839 IMG_2845 IMG_2847 IMG_2848 IMG_2827 IMG_2830 I rented my first major studio in the mid-1990s There was a little room down three steps that I used for my drawing room. The wood floors were nice, specked with metal pieces from the 1800 machines. All the big windows faced north, perfect light. I took over more space, the old boiler room. I had two remove two cinderblock walls filled with rebar and cement. What a story What a story Amazing what a coat of paint can do. Sealed up archways in the brick is where logs or coal entered. I was able to work on many things at once. Big sheets of paper... A ledge the lenght of the room came in handy. I could hang finished art up while I made more. Everything was on wheels. I could hang installations to see what they looked like. I would paint and paint. We moved in and I could stay up at night painting. On the upper level I had a station for projects. I would plot out all the steps. The sofa was for guests. My grandmothers sewing machine is put to good use. I learned that having "stations" works for me. I protected the walls. I worked on collages and ink drawings bigger than me. I worked on the floor. I had a wall that moved. I could work on works for months. 7 No need to rush. Trees, rivers, tears, crying.... Something was taking shape. I tried to figure out what to believe in. I loved working on series. I used dress patterns. Raw canvas is a favorite. I used all of Joel's leftover frame stock. Paintings lined up. I worked on what I felt moved to work on. I was organized. People gave me lazy boy chairs but I didn't use them much. Sometimes my art supplies exploded on sight. I tried to use everything. I don't believe in making waste. Painting racks were on wheels. Friends gave me flatfiles. Inventory. construct1 copy construct3 copy construct4 copy construct5 copy construct6 copy construct7 copy construct9 copy construct10 copy construct11 copy construct12 copy construct13 copy IMG_1400 copy IMG_1524 copy IMG_3087 copy I had a pushpin board for my notes. Sometimes things got out of hand. Everything, every item, created a dialogue. I used me studio for many things. Sometimes I taught or had events. More mini frames. I love tables. More tables the better. I used all my paint. I used all my paper. Wonderscape series. The work poured from me. Each work has text. Working on two series at once. Over 100 works completed in the series! A short break to take a look. I lived with the Red Trees Shrouds. The shrouds fluttered each time I walked by. I investigated bamboo poles. I love cloth. This pieces is a starry night. Old glass windows defined my office space. I had the energy of 12 horse team! My office was peaceful. I started making books and boxes. How many ways can I tell the story? I used over 100 bamboo poles. I contempated. Joel built a shelf for my tears. Sometimes I would clean. I would hose the floor down! Or add a fresh coat of paint. All neat again. And eyes, golden eyes, speak to me. Fabric worn from the element over the years. I would move things around. How the variety of items work as one. I tried to figure out how things went together. How to say all that I wish to say. I drew the story of the universe. I would make a mess. I work on "Universe in a box" and "Life on hold" side by side. Joel would give me blank canvases. I would think ahead. I would plan what to make next. All my cats have loved me. My favorite series. I still have all of them. Upper level to my office. I painted the wall with some "oops" paint. Joel's old school chair. We had meetings here. Outside garden A paradise. Flowering plants. We sat outside with friends. The blue sky in the city. Hard to believe it was a parking lot. Joel's truck. CIMG4404 IMG_7547 copy IMG_7450 copy IMG_7425 copy IMG_7422 copy IMG_7420 copy RTinstallation 2166 shrouds 5 8 6 9 10 11 DSC05994 DSC05992 CIMG4401 CIMG4408 CIMG4409 CIMG4410 CIMG4407 CIMG4400 DSC05997 CIMG4405 DSC05998 dsc06001 CIMG4406 DSC05996 DSC05991 CIMG4411 IMG_3081 1a IMG_0775 DSC05993 jquery lightbox wordpress by VisualLightBox.com v5.7m

  Blackhawk and Dayton, Chicago, IL 1986-2007.

PAINTING
1991-1995
1996-2000
2001-2005
2006-2010
2011-2014

MINI-SERIES
1990 Peppers, Seeds, and Rotting Vegetables
1996 What I painted when I could not paint
2005 For the Birds
2007 Butterflies are free
2011 The Year The Permafrost Softened

WORKS ON PAPER
 1988-1989 Chairs
1989-1990 Umbrellas
1991-1998
1997 The Chase
1998 Dismantled Sketchbooks
1999 Ragdale Series
2000-2004 Collage Art
2002 Charcoal
2000-2004 Figure Drawing
2000-2005 Project Art
2000 Spinning Plates
2002 Fan Collages
2001 Screaming In Places Where I Can't Be heard
2004 Wonderscapes
2005-2006 The Story of the Universe
2008 Buddha Was Here
2009 Life On Hold (NFS)
2010-2016 The Demandments (NFS)

MIXED MEDIUM
1995-1998 Sectioned panels
1997-1998 White Paintings and Furry Work
1998 Red Dot Series
2001-2009 Wax, Wire, Gold, Globe, and Glass
2001 How Things Pile Up
2002 Retablos, oil on metal

OBJECT ART
2002-present Project Items
Historic-present Fane Items
1550-1560 Ancestral Figure Drawings

INSTALLATION
2002-2016 Paradise
2006 Negative to Positive
2007-present Four walls*
2008 Found
2010-present Teacups for Reading Tea Leaves
2011-present Waterworks*
2000-present My Crates

PERFORMATIVE
2004 White Sands
2006 Blue Clouds

LIBRARY OF BOOKS 2000-present
Painting Inventory
Book of Days
Whitewash
The Ragdale Book
Brain Book
Ransom Magazine
Box of Tears
Pocket Full of Cries
Europe
 Mongolia
Flower Book
Retablos: How I Got From Here to Here
The Fane Pamphlet
Scroll of Influence
The Story of Red Trees
Red Trees History
Red Trees Chronicle
Red Trees Prayerbook
Red Trees Kakemono
Book of Leaves
Elemental Communion
Found: Journals from the future
Symbol Book
Books of Sense
Organ Origin
The Wedding Program
The Wedding Book
I Must Go
Ladder Book*
Book of Stairs*
The Studio Visit Playbill*
Flower Book 2*
...continued

STUDIO PRACTICE
Studio 1: Dayton and Blackhawk
Studio 2: Hubbard and House
Project scouting and on location
Works in progress
Exhibits, happenings, homes
Studio clippings and announcements
Artist

WORLD RIVERS PROJECT overview
World Rivers: Curtain
World Rivers: Participants
World Rivers: Rivers
World Rivers: Cloth
Visit the River Log

TEXT ARCHIVE
Artwork
Installation
Books

* documentation is forthcoming
 This archive is a creative history spanning two decades.
The documentation is comprised of many technological
formats ranging from slides, 4x5s, photographs, and
straddles the introduction of digital formatting of the time.
The goal was to preserve images, whether high or low resolution.
Lee Tracy
 ART
 PROJECTS
 STORY
 ARCHIVE
 ARTIST
 LEEWAY ROOM
 NEWS
 CONTACT