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

Hi Tracy, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Recycled Works has 2 missions: recycle/reuse/repurpose and touchable artwork. Here are the stories:
RECYCLE/REUSE/REPURPOSE: My artwork is made using recycled materials and found objects. I find most of my materials on buy nothing (on facebook), freecycle.org, through friends and customers, or even on the street or sidewalk! I love being able to take something that most people don’t notice (like coffee stirrers) or never see (like circuit boards or hard drives) and using them as focal points in my art. So many things have their own beauty or artistic bend if viewed with fresh eyes or in a different way. Coffee stirrers aren’t that exciting – people use them and throw them away. But put a bunch of them together to create a vertical design and they are transformed into a perfect background for an art piece. And who knew that VHS tape has a whole new life as artistic material!

I like making art but part of why I started this recycled materials artwork journey was because I care about the environment and wanted to ‘save things from the landfill’ – but I had no idea how far this journey would take me! Years into my artistic journey, I realized that I was being more selective about what came into my house (no more random retail shopping sprees), how I purchased things, and what I have been able to let go. Not only do I actively participate in giving and receiving items from buy nothing and freecycle, I also share this information with customers who come into my studio. If more people realized the potential of sharing unneeded, yet still-useful items with others in the community, we could save even more from landfills, expanding the universal concept of demand and supply at work in our own communities. This concept has also taught me to let go of things (thoughts as well as tangible items) when they no longer serve a purpose – if it is needed in the future, those thoughts or things (or even better things) will come back to me.

TOUCHABLE ARTWORK: I admit that I’m a tactile person – I just *have* to touch things to feel their textures. I make art that reflects that desire … and I allow people to touch my artwork when they visit my studio or art market booth. It’s part of the excitement of owning a Recycled Works art piece! I joke with customers that they don’t need to buy a fidget, just purchase one of my pieces and pet it when they’re stressed. But I have realized that it is more than that – here we are in 2024, and we KNOW that there a lot of individuals who want or need to touch things, or individuals who are blind, yet it is very rare to find an artist who allows visitors to touch their artwork. My mission at the moment is to make this concept a bit more mainstream.

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 spent about 20 years in corporate america, processing survey numbers and running statistics, while raising an extremely artistic child, but my artistic expression didn’t kick in until I left the corporate world. Because I was nurturing my daughter’s art journey – pricing, titles, presentation, how to submit to exhibits and participate in art markets – I became immersed in the art world. We joined a local non-profit art gallery where I curated art exhibits (skills from the corporate world) and she submitted and sold artwork.

Then the inevitable happened … I started making and selling hand-made greeting cards (using scrapbooking as well as recycled materials) and then ‘graduated’ to displaying and selling art pieces. My biggest fear was not that no one would buy, or like, my art but what if I made something, hung it in an exhibit, and something fell off my canvas LOL. So my search led me to using resin in my artwork and I’ve been hooked ever since. Resin itself has a cool soothing texture to it, but when you pour it on top of other things (like the recycled materials I collect), you can also feel those textures as well. Because I learned about resin the hard way, I currently teach resin workshops – resin is an awesome tool for making art but also has its quirks so the workshop provides a great intro into how to use resin to make an art piece.

After I left the corporate world, I became an office manager and bookkeeper. Although it sounds surprising to others that I’m an artist AND a bookkeeper, it really works for me. Bookkeeping feeds my OCD side, which allows me to embrace the chaos of creating artwork – and there is chaos, but it is amazing what can be created when you let the materials decide what is going to be created. And because life imitates art (or vice versa), chaos created a whirlwind in my life the last 2 years but happy to say that I have positively completed my cancer journey and recently opened my public studio where visitors can visit, chat, touch and shop.

I currently make hand-made greeting cards, as well as 2D, 3D and stand-alone touchable artwork in various shapes and sizes. My artworks range from very small to large (6 feet tall) pieces. I also provide custom pieces for those who want artwork made using their own materials (grandmother’s jewelry, items purchased or saved from a trip, etc).

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

You are you … I am me. We could both be in the same market, maybe even have the same type of product, but provide very different services because of our desires and intentions … and that is okay. The only competition we have is with ourselves.

I spent most of my early life wondering why I didn’t fit in with, work or function like the other people at the company. It wasn’t until years later that I finally learned that we each have a unique combination of skills and abilities that allow us to do something that no one else is as capable of doing. I truly believe that if we all worked in an area that utilizes our unique combination of skills and abilities, this world (and its people) would be a happier place.

We each have a unique perspective on what our service/product provides or serves for the community and/or customers. That mission or purpose keeps us focused on our goal.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I was recently diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer – it was affecting my ability to eat, which made me weak, and then they started chemo sessions about 6 weeks after the diagnosis, which kept me weak for quite a while. Talk about a sudden change! I had to stop some of my work, and cancel my upcoming resin workshops, because I had no energy … but I kept my bookkeeping clients. In hindsight, I think that is what helped keep me going through the chemo sessions. It created that sense of normalcy in an otherwise scary and chaotic time.

The chemo process and work eventually fell into a rhythm where, the day after my 9-hour chemo session, I would spend the next week or so doing all the client work I could, and then take quiet care of myself over the last week since that was when I was the weakest … .and then the cycle would start up again after the next chemo session. I didn’t create much artwork during that time, but I was taking notes of future art ideas that kept popping up (the brain keeps going, regardless of what the body is doing).

Things eventually evened out – I started making artwork and hosting resin workshop again … I even acquired 2 more bookkeeping clients during that time! Lessons learned: keep going even if you’re confined to a recliner most of the time — eat when you’re hungry and if you’re not, eat something every 3-4 hours — set some short-term goals to get you up and going each day … and don’t get distressed if you don’t reach those goal, at least you got up! — if you think of things, write them down so you can remember them later (chemo messes with your brain).

The chemo sessions are finished but it will take a while for my strength to come back up to pre-cancer times, but I’m now being more thoughtful about where I want to be and where I’m going.

Contact Info:

• Website: RecycledWorksArt.com
• Instagram: RecycledWorks
• Facebook: RecycledWorks
• Other: Studio #319 at Torpedo Factory in Alexandria VA