Tracy Mattheson, a Massachusetts' transplant, may best be described as the adventitious, social artist of Eliot, Maine. The representational painter only recently found her way back to art, a pursuit she'd always intended to be her focus - but life happens.
Mattheson earned her bachelor of arts degree in painting from Mass Art Boston and her bachelor of communications and design with an eye on a fine and commercial art career. Marriage and children, and later single parenting, made short shrift of her intent.
There was a job in advertising, a stint in the U.S. Army as a sergeant in intelligence analysis, then came a career as a crisis counselor in Massachusetts. Art was delegated to the fringes as responsibilities grew, Mattheson says.