Artist's Bio:

Tracy Weaver is a multi disciplined illustrator with over 40 years experience, who has worked as a draftsman/designer, technical illustrator, architectural renderer, portrait artist, graphic designer, and even as a cartoonist.  Since most of Tracy's rendering skills revolve around realistic representation of conceptual objects, he has learned not only how to realistically mingle conceptual objects among observed objects, but also how to make them seem to fit seamlessly into their surroundings.

Tracy painted his first wall-sized mural at the age of twelve.  After graduating art school, he went to work in the technical art fields, eventually segueing into computer graphics and design.  During those years, he also did portrait work, cartoon work, and various free-lance illustration assignments.

About five years ago, Tracy made the decision to leave corporate life and return to life as an artist focusing on trompe l'oeil. He and his wife Cindy L. Weaver , a well established ceramic artist, currently live, work and teach in Wilmington, NC.

Artist's Statement:

The word "artist" seems to have a lot of definitions connected with it. I consider myself to be a craftsman.  I have gained a cadre of technical skills that combine to allow me to create effective trompe l'oeil - real-looking illusions on flat surfaces.  So, in effect, I am an illustrator for people's imaginations, including my own.

For me, trompe l'oeil works on one or more of five tiers.

1. Relaxation and Enjoyment:  This tier relates to scenes, vistas, remaking our environment the way we would like it to be, so that we feel good being in it.  What would you like to see outside your arcaded balcony?


2. A Visual Joke: Here, we can put a bit of the magical or unexpected in our environment.  The joke can be subtle, such as wet footprints going from a doorway to behind a curtain, or outrageous, such as making a concrete building facade look like someone has busted a large hole in the side, and inside is - well - whatever you can imagine!


3. Telling a Story: A picture is worth a thousand words, right?  Commercial trompe l'oeil very often wells something about the company - it's history, it's philosophy, or the history of the surrounding area.  Favorite fairy tales in children's rooms are also popular.


4. The Fantastic: What you are looking at is frankly impossible, which is to say, outside of your current beliefs about what can be.  So are many of your dreams.  What's wrong with flying through clouds and seeing, in the distance, a doorway leading back to your room?


5. A Multi-layered Puzzle: A scene that contains hidden layers of meaning.  Things at first appear to be normal, but then you begin to notice something odd - funny, you never noticed that before. What in the world could it mean? What else might turn up?

While I enjoy commission work, I also enjoy creating smaller works on panels that can be exhibited and purchased at shows. This gives customers a chance to bring home a trompe l'oeil piece they enjoy without having to wait. From small bookshelves to door-sized panels, a bit of visual magic can be taken home, installed and enjoyed.