Emerging artist: Tracy Poindexter

Emerging artist: Tracy Poindexter

Age: 24

Born and lives in Spokane

College: Seattle University, Bachelor of Arts, English/Creative Writing, minor in Cultural Anthropology, 2003. Currently in Gonzaga University’s Master of Arts program, Communication and Leadership Studies.

Day job: Office administrator and contributing writer for Northwest Woman Magazine.

Upcoming show: Her first public show, “African Americans in All Shades,” opens April 30 with an artist’s reception at 7 p.m. at Liquid Life Espresso, 242 W. Sprague Ave. The show runs through May 31.

Kind of art: Portraits of notable African-Americans, using acrylic on canvas or mix media and collage. Poindexter has written and illustrated an unpublished children’s book.

Influences: “I am deeply influenced by the late, great African-American painters Jacob Lawrence and Jean-Michael Basquiat who weren’t afraid to use vivid colors and excitement in their paintings,” Poindexter says. “I also love Frieda Kahlo’s storytelling ability within her portraits.”

Process: “I don’t have a whole lot of space to do my art,” she says. “I usually just sit on my bed with my easel and canvas in front of me, turn on some Miles Davis, Coltrane or Nina Simone and just go for it. I like doing a pencil sketch when using large canvases and then build layers of acrylic on from there. I never know what my art is going to look like, just as a writer never knows exactly how their story will end. I am always surprised at the final product.”

Right now what is your intent with your art? “Art is just something that I do, that I always have done and always plan on doing throughout my life,” Poindexter says. “When I feel the urge to be creative, which is sometimes 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning, I just go for it. I’m not expecting to become like this great, well-known artist. I just want to put it out there for people to wonder about and enjoy.”

E-mail: poindet@seattleu.edu