Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tracy Loring. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Tracy, appreciate you joining us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

It’s impossible to know what would have happened, but I do know I wouldn’t be the artist I am today had I started my art career sooner. I’ve done creative projects my whole life but never considered it as a career option until I was in college. I was living in Los Angeles and going to UCLA. I stumbled into a rubber stamp store in Santa Monica and fell in love with the imagery, the inks, the markers, and the various mixed media options. I started working there part time when the owner suggested I teach a class. This was the 90’s and the rubber stamp/ mixed media industry was just getting going. LA was a hotbed of manufacturers. I loved it so much I went to work and teach at the store full time after graduation. From there I went on to work for a manufacturer doing demo art, trade shows, and teaching at their retails stores while also working the phones in their warehouse. I loved being creative and doing creative work everyday.

Then my father got very ill. My boyfriend at the time got a great job offer with a tech start up in Silicon Valley (think late 90’s era). The timing was perfect to move back to Northern CA where I’m from. So we moved. The down side was that the art industry I was so engaged with in LA didn’t exist in the same way in Northern CA. I had to find a new job. I ended up taking a role in a company doing presentations for one of their VP’s. I thought there was at least some way to be creative. I never considered art school. I still did my art as a hobby but got sucked into the day to day of corporate life.

Fast forward 18 years to 2016. I was then in my mid 40’s. I had built a successful career in the corporate learning and development space. I had moved to Texas to join a tech company and was making great money leading global talent development teams. I still did art. In fact my art kept evolving. I occasionally took an art workshop or online class. But something was missing.

I started working with a life coach who helped me reconnect with what I truly love and who I want to be. I started conducting art workshops again at friend’s houses. Something re-ignited in me and I knew this was what was missing. Doing and teaching art makes me feel whole. I got involved with the local art community where I lived in Texas. I started teaching more, started showing my work, and eventually became a partner in a local gallery.

In 2019 I decided to leave my corporate job and start my own coaching practice, learning and development consulting business, and art business. I’ve never looked back. I’ve leaned into my art and who I want to be as an artist. I’ve learned to become unapologetic about who I am and who I want to be. Because I never went to formal art school, I don’t know what I don’t know. I don’t know a lot of the rules of art and the art industry, so there is an innocence and freedom in what I do. At my age (now 55) even if I do become aware of the “rules”, I often choose not to follow them anyway. At this stage in my life, I paint because I need to. I want to. I do it for me, not for anyone else. I’m grateful and excited when I win an award or my work resonates with someone else. Teaching art is a big part of my business and I love every minute of it. Eventually I’d love to transition to doing nothing but art and teaching art full time.

Sometimes I think about where I would be and what I would be doing if I had stayed in LA and kept working in the art industry. In some parallel universe I’m sure I made that choice. But I wouldn’t be where I am now. Everything I learned about myself, others, and the world during those 18 years in corporate have shaped my vision and direction as an artist. Everything I learn as a coach comes into play in my art as I learn to deepen my connection to my intuition. Everything I learn as an artist plays back into my coaching and consulting. The richness of all of these aspects has woven this wonderful tapestry of compassion, self-expression, and growth. I see my art skills grow year over year and sometimes wonder what I would be capable of now had I spent more time on my art in those 18 years. But I know those 18 years shaped other skills that wouldn’t be with me today had I not had those experiences. Who can say which is better or more valuable?

What I do know is that at 55, I know who I am, who I want to be, and what I want to say. That to me is priceless at any age.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I consider myself an intuitive storyteller. I am a mixed media painter and my process involves using my intuition to guide me into and through a painting. There is always a story hidden inside the paint. I see myself as the conduit to help that story come to life and be told. As a result, I often have a hard time responding when someone asks me what I paint. Everything? Whatever shows up? Typically it’s trees, flowers, and figures. Two things that are consistent throughout my work is a love of color and texture. While I enjoy working in many different types of media, I will always find ways to create textures and play with big bold color. I have an expressive somewhat loose and abstracted style that gives me the space to play with these colors and textures.

Helping people connect to their own artistry is one of my passions. I believe everyone is capable of expressing themselves creatively and that art can have such healing powers. I aim to create safe spaces in my workshops where people can explore their emotions and express their creativity freely.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The opportunity to examine myself more deeply and grow as a result. As artists, we’re often encouraged to “see”. See value, see shapes, see lines, see composition. Painting gives me an opportunity to practice seeing. Because my process focuses so heavily on using my intuition, I also have the opportunity to practice listening.

I actively cultivate my “intuitive intelligence” for use in my coaching as well as my painting. When painting, I listen to where my body wants to go, what colors jump out at me, and what shapes emerge from the paint. These all point to the story this painting wants to tell. I get to keep honing my skill at finding order in the chaos of marks, of seeing the subtle shapes that exist, and solving problems that might arise in the final painting. I feel like I’m always solving problems because I work with what emerges instead of planning things out ahead of time. I’m always needing to address perspective or composition or even how to display the work. When the subject goes all the way to the edge of a piece of paper I have to find a way to frame it or mount it without covering up the important bits.

I also get to practice my authenticity and voice. It’s my job as an artist to serve the story of the piece I’m working on. That means getting out of my own way, putting my ego aside, and letting the painting guide me. If I get caught up in how the work might be received or the commercial value, or what others might think, I won’t be serving the work and therefore not myself. Being an artist keeps me honest. It keeps me out of my head and more connected to my heart. Being in this state serves every aspect of my life.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I am a recovering people-pleaser. Unlearning the desire/ drive to make others happy above anything else has been a decades long lesson I’ve been working to unlearn. There is a premise in the coaching methodology I practice which says, “when you serve yourself at your highest level, you serve everyone else too.” When I am true to myself and serving myself for my highest good, I am more direct, I ask for what I want/ need, I have clearer boundaries and stick to them, and I’m happier and more at ease. All of these things serve those around me including my clients, my family, and my art. It helps me be more authentic and unapologetic in my painting. I have less angst about pricing. I’m more easily able to take critiques of my work or rejections from a show and not take them personally, but rather just part of the process. I can make them not mean anything about me or the work which frees up all that space and energy to keep creating more work!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tracyloringart.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tracyloringart/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tracyloringart/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracyloring/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@tracyloringart