Since she was 10 years old, Trena McNabb has known she wanted
to be an artist. At first using correspondence courses during high
school, she moved on to work at ad agencies for her commercial art
career. She has been able to experiment, realizing her intentions and
thus freeing her imagination to create a large collection of collagelike art.
Trena's paintings reveal a story, and those stories are connected to
the images by the transparency of the acrylic paints that are used.
Her unique technique is due to experimentation, beginning with 3-D
canvases, the use of glitter and paint, as well as raw and white
canvases. Soon she moved on to colors and developed the over
lapping transparent imagery.
Her meadow garden in Bethania serves to enhance her research
about plants and flowers, which is incorporated into her nature
series. She also researched plants at the Salem College Herbarium.
Using pressed plants on her canvas and real leaves rather than
painted ones extends the natural beauty of Trena's work.
Experimenting is what she does continually to keep the artist
process fresh. Her imagination is always open to new interpretation.
Trying new processes is also part of the artistic experience and
growth.
Trena has used her techniques and creativity to tell visual stories in
many corporate and public art locations. Her work can be found in
collections at Reynolds Tobacco, Truliant Federal Credit Union,
Forsyth Technical Community College, Arbor Acres, Sara Lee
Corporation, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and many other
locations across the country. Her work can also be found in many
private collections.
Trena is represented by the Morning Star Gallery on Main Street
in Blowing Rock and Hampton House in Winston-Salem. Next
spring, she will have a solo show at the Museum of Natural Science
Nature Gallery in Raleigh.
Trena McNabb
“Black Bear Habitat”
“A Path For All Seasons”
Associated Artists is a well established
organization born in 1956 with the mission of
celebrating and supporting the visual artist by
offering display and educational
opportunities. We invite you to explore all
that we have to offer and the many ways in
which to enrich your life. And don’t worry if
you are reading this and are not artistically
inclined! We welcome art appreciators with
open arms because there is also a special place
for you within AAWS. For more information
about our organization please visit us at:
associatedartists.org or Like us on Facebook
at Associated Artists of Winston-Salem. We
look forward to hearing from you!
“Fall”
17
Fall 2014, Volume 7, No.36