Meet Tricia Schug, Mixed Media
by Debra Valpey, AU Secretary
Tricia Schug, one of our newer (around four years now) members, is the artist behind those intriguing and nostalgic collages that may remind you of another era. You will see here that that is only ONE of her modes of artistic expression.
Tricia rarely shared her work before joining AU, viewing it as strictly a form of self-expression. It was a visit to a Cove Show and conversations with fellow AU’ers that coaxed her to visit us. Nowadays she sees her work as more intentional and believes that a work is not finished until it has been seen by others. I tend to agree.
Her story goes way back, too, to a childhood of pleasure with puzzles and puzzling questions such as how can I make this torn paper and this piece of an antique dollhouse into something beautiful and meaningful?
Perhaps you have also noted her delicate hand-stitched petite framed images of gardens, water and trees. Tricia long resisted the gender dictated feminine skills of sewing and dressmaking. She still claims she doesn’t know how to use a sewing machine or make practical garments like dress and curtains. But she enjoys using a tiny hand-held needle and thread to join bits of fiber as one of her mediums of creativity. It is also an homage to her beloved grandmother and mother, skilled seamstresses, who inspired her even though Tricia chose to take hand stitching in a new direction.
But wait, there’s more…Tricia “paints” with paper. She enjoys the effect of torn paper in creating rock and water images. She often Gelli prints her paper to give it extra pigment and texture. From a distance her landscapes and skycaps appear painted, but you must look closely to see the sturdiness of paper of varying thicknesses and the sometimes-painted surfaces of the papers she uses.
Tricia calls her work unique, a bit quirky, and accessible. One can view it and say to themselves “I could do something like that, but would I?” On one level her works sometimes look folksy, but on a deeper level, it is easy to marvel at its complexity.
Tricia and her husband, Larry (whom she met in a creative writing class), live in Kent and frequently baby sit their four young grandkids, progeny of their blended family. In the past they co-owned an antique shop for a time and that is how many of Tricia’s “raw materials” and old photos became the inspiration for her to build a new scene around those found items. Before that, Tricia worked in marketing and communication for several non-profit organizations including the Federal Way Multi-Service Center and Samaritan Health Services in Oregon. They care for several rescued cats who frequently entertain them with their antics.
I know you will enjoy getting to know Tricia better and learn about her amazing and creative art.
by Debra Valpey, AU Secretary
Tricia Schug, one of our newer (around four years now) members, is the artist behind those intriguing and nostalgic collages that may remind you of another era. You will see here that that is only ONE of her modes of artistic expression.
Tricia rarely shared her work before joining AU, viewing it as strictly a form of self-expression. It was a visit to a Cove Show and conversations with fellow AU’ers that coaxed her to visit us. Nowadays she sees her work as more intentional and believes that a work is not finished until it has been seen by others. I tend to agree.
Her story goes way back, too, to a childhood of pleasure with puzzles and puzzling questions such as how can I make this torn paper and this piece of an antique dollhouse into something beautiful and meaningful?
Perhaps you have also noted her delicate hand-stitched petite framed images of gardens, water and trees. Tricia long resisted the gender dictated feminine skills of sewing and dressmaking. She still claims she doesn’t know how to use a sewing machine or make practical garments like dress and curtains. But she enjoys using a tiny hand-held needle and thread to join bits of fiber as one of her mediums of creativity. It is also an homage to her beloved grandmother and mother, skilled seamstresses, who inspired her even though Tricia chose to take hand stitching in a new direction.
But wait, there’s more…Tricia “paints” with paper. She enjoys the effect of torn paper in creating rock and water images. She often Gelli prints her paper to give it extra pigment and texture. From a distance her landscapes and skycaps appear painted, but you must look closely to see the sturdiness of paper of varying thicknesses and the sometimes-painted surfaces of the papers she uses.
Tricia calls her work unique, a bit quirky, and accessible. One can view it and say to themselves “I could do something like that, but would I?” On one level her works sometimes look folksy, but on a deeper level, it is easy to marvel at its complexity.
Tricia and her husband, Larry (whom she met in a creative writing class), live in Kent and frequently baby sit their four young grandkids, progeny of their blended family. In the past they co-owned an antique shop for a time and that is how many of Tricia’s “raw materials” and old photos became the inspiration for her to build a new scene around those found items. Before that, Tricia worked in marketing and communication for several non-profit organizations including the Federal Way Multi-Service Center and Samaritan Health Services in Oregon. They care for several rescued cats who frequently entertain them with their antics.
I know you will enjoy getting to know Tricia better and learn about her amazing and creative art.
