Meet Tracey Luckner

We were lucky to catch up with Tracey Luckner recently and have shared our conversation below.

Tracey, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

My purpose is to be an artist. Growing up, it was always the thing I was best at. I loved any art class, was always drawing and painting, and always felt happiest and most myself when I was creating. When it came time to go to college, my advisor suggested I go to art school. I wish I had listened (!) but at the time I thought I needed to go in search of my purpose and that I would find it by trying new things. I went to a liberal arts college and studied art history. I also focused on writing and thought I might be a journalist. After college I moved to New York City and worked in publishing for a time, always painting and taking art classes in my free time. Publishing didn’t feel like a fit and I felt more unsure than ever about a career path. I had gotten really good grades in college and I remember talking with my boyfriend at the time (now husband) – he suggested grad school. I decided to go to business school. I thought marketing might be a way for me to be creative. And then I worked in marketing for a number of years and still didn’t feel like it was right. And all the while I was taking art classes on the side. When my kids were little I stayed home with them for a while and started painting even more. I had a show of my paintings at a beautiful library – my friends and family came, I sold paintings, and I felt more “myself” than I ever had. It was incredible to be surrounded by beautiful paintings I had created. That was when I found my purpose, which of course had been there all along!

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I am a painter and am so filled with gratitude that I get to spend most days at my light-filled art studio, creating new work, working on commissions, and getting ready for art shows. My paintings are an exploration between abstraction and the landscape, with expressive brush-strokes and mark-making bringing a sense of lyricism and movement to the work. Sometimes I use references like sketches or photos and other times I paint intuitively, exploring color, line, form, and mark-making. I know a painting is complete when I have a sense of wonder when I look at it – where there is movement and it comes together as a whole. I find that some paintings feel like a celebration and others are more quiet and serene. I love connecting with people about my art. We have Open Studios twice a year at my art studio community Manufacturers Village in East Orange, NJ and that’s a great chance to share what I’m working on. I also share on Instagram @traceylucknerart and have a newsletter that I send out about once a month. I’ve also been really fortunate to have had a lot of opportunities to exhibit my work. I’ve now had four solo shows including one at the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey in 2023 and one at a gallery space in New York City’s West Village in 2024. I recently participated in my 3rd juried fine art fair and am getting ready for another solo show at the end of 2025. I teach art occasionally too, most recently an abstract painting class. I’m always surprised how much I learn from the students!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1) Follow what you love. If you love doing it more than anything else, follow your heart! I made my journey so much more difficult than it needed to be because I took my art for granted and thought I needed to look outside of what I loved to find a career.
2) Develop your skills as much as possible. Even though I didn’t go to art school, I took so many classes and practiced on my own so much that I feel like I did! Even today I’m continually trying to make my work stronger and stronger.
3) Keep Going! It won’t always be easy, so figure out what support or practices you need to help you keep going. I love connecting with other artists and cheering for them – seeing them succeed helps my success feel possible. I also keep a daily sketchbook with paintings and ideas. That helps keep me focused on what I love too.

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?

A program called the Creative Visionary Program taught by the wonderful abstract painter and teacher Nicholas Wilton at Art2Life has been incredibly helpful in so many ways. I strengthened my painting skills, met a wonderful community of artists, and learned so many things that have helped my art career. I even found my studio through an Art2Life friend. One of the key things I learned was to focus 80% internally. Focus on creating work that you absolutely love and share it, but don’t overly worry about external input or comparing yourself to others (everyone has their own journey!). That helps you create the strong authentic work that you need to be successful as an artist and also the resilience to keep going when things get challenging..

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.traceyluckner.com
• Instagram: @traceylucknerart