Foothills Times January 2014 | Page 17

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