Posts Tagged ‘vivid’

Traci  Higginbotham was born in Kettering, Ohio but is known as a local artist in West Virginia for her bold, vivid paintings. Higginbotham usually paints on canvas with bold colors but is recently trying to switch to paper and black and white or little color. Traci Higginbotham is actually a very traditional and reserved person who shows her energy and emotions through her work. Her painting style tends to surprise people and does not usually reflect her personality.

Early Life
Higginbotham moved to West Virginia when she was eight years old. Her earliest artistic experience was her many drawings she created for bulletin board designs in elementary school. Since she was so unique and creative, her teacher ended up placing her in the gifted art program. Her family was always very encouraging of her artistic abilities and pushed her to achieve her goals. Higginbotham’s training began with a woman named Caryl Toth who was her instructor in the gifted art program in Putnam County High School. After high school, Higginbotham attended the University of Charleston to graduate and come out with a Bachelor’s degree in art.

Inspirations/Admirations
Traci Higginbotham is inspired by the colors of the sky during a sunset and any form of nature. Her only artistic goal for herself is to keep painting and never give up. She holds her ideas in until she gets to her studio in the basement of the Art Emporium which she says “is a very raw space, but that makes it great! I don’t have to worry about slinging the paint around.” Higginbotham tends to work on four to five paintings all at one time and has them around her so she can obtain more creativity. Her favorite piece of work of someone else’s is “The Embrace” by Gustav Klimt. Higginbotham’s favorite piece of her own work is called “Surround” which was a large canvas with beautiful brush strokes of yellows, oranges, and reds. She says “it represented the sun and how it surrounds me and inspires my paintings.”

Current/Future Work
Higginbotham currently exhibits at the Art Emporium and Taylor Books in Charleston, as well as at the Tamarack in Beckley. She is currently been trying to switch up her style by changing to paper as well as using more black and white and less color. She wants the excitement to come not only from the colors of her work but within the brushstrokes. Her favorite materials to work with are Liquitex soft body acrylics because she loves their bold creaminess as well as Royal Soft Grip brushes. Throughout all of her work, Higginbotham uses very vivid colors with intense brushstrokes to give her paintings a theme of bold energy. She usually starts off painting small and then moves up to multiple canvases until she finds one that she can stick with and make beautiful.