Artist Interviews: Traci Couch

Traci Couch is an artist, author, and teacher from Zanesville, Ohio. She is an active part of our Art Makes Us community, recently taking the Explorations in Sketching class with Deb Burke and private mentorship with Paul Richmond. Her drawings come alive on the page, with a wide range of subject matter including figures, animals, still life, landscape, and abstract. Thank you Traci for sharing some inspiration today with us on the blog!

AMU: Art Makes Us ___.

Traci: full and open at the same time. It fills me to see the art of others. And it makes me open all my senses and search for all the details when I am making art.

AMU: Tell us a little about yourself and your art.

Traci: I’m 62, and married. I married late in life and it surprised me as much if not more than my family and friends. We are both retired. I worked mostly in my life as a receptionist, secretary or data entry person. I later instructed basic art classes, various needleworks, and just about anything I could find to teach. I love to teach. I am also interested in music, dance, needleworks, gardening, origami, reading and writing. The Stay-Home of 2020 and 2021 have afforded me the opportunity to take many classes. And it has been a time of growth and adventure for me. I have wanted to take lessons from Paul for years. It’s a dream come true. 

AMU: What’s your favorite medium?

Traci: So far, I like working in ink and colored pencil. I like doing sketchbook art and drawing the things, people and furry beings in my life. I have also done, years ago, some oils, acrylics and watercolors. 

AMU: What are your artistic goals for the future?

Traci: As for my goals I would like to be able to draw what I see in the world and in my mind. I write stories and I would like to make small illustrations in the books I write. And I would like to try pastels.

AMU: What piece of artistic advice has stuck with you?

Traci: One piece of art advice that has stuck with me is to just not quit no matter how I feel today. And to look at my work in a mirror to see what it really looks like. I can become too close to it. 

AMU: What famous artist would you love to meet?

Traci: If he were alive I would have loved to have met Diego Rivera. I would love to see his murals in Detroit. One of the attributes I loved about him is that he was always trying new things. Degas with his dancers – I saw his work at the museum in New York and it was life changing. On Instagram I have found 3 artists that I just love and look for every day: Jon Twingley, Tommy Kane and Mel Reim. And of course, I have met Paul…. 

AMU: What do you wish you knew when you started?

Traci: I wished I knew when I started doing art to breathe more. It's still something I need to remember. 

AMU: What’s your favorite color?

Traci: My favorite color is ORANGE!  It is sooo full of life and light! 

AMU: If you had an artistic superpower what would it be?

Traci: If I had an artistic superpower it would be to draw what I think and feel, plus what I see. 

 Follow Traci on Instagram: @appalachianwoman.