When your work is displayed around the continent, attracting the attention of famous artists, and selling within 30 seconds of being posted on social media, some people could probably call you an “artist.” But Tracey Metallic-Barnaby is still getting use to the title.
She’s only been painting for a year, but her work has clearly been resonating with others. She has shipped her work to Alaska, her prints caught the eye of a television set designer while on display in Thunder Bay, and her work has recently been commissioned to be installed in a new health center in Michigan.
All the recognition has definitely been exciting. But it’s all secondary. “I’ll never give painting up,” Tracey said. “It’s way too therapeutic for me.”
Tracey says she’s always been crafty, but she gave up drawing when her daughter was born. She was 18 at the time. She then raised two more children, until she was 31 and decided she needed to go back to school.
Three degrees later, after years of running two separate households in Listuguj and Fredericton, she had a career in social work. This training would prove to be helpful.