My name is Tracy Arietti and, like most people, I was an artist from birth. Unfortunately, also like most people, I was not encouraged to continue as an artist after childhood - "You can't make a living that way." So I went to college and got my Psych degree, and went to Law School to get my JD. I spent the next 16 years or so raising kids, sheep, goats, rabbits, chickens and food in rural Maine. During that time, I joined a fiber arts community, and was able to spin and sell yarn, woven and knitted goods. I remembered the feel of having art in my life, and felt the surge of energy and creativity wash over me like a soothing balm.
Eventually, I realized that I needed to make some changes, as I was growing and needing different things from my life and, I felt, to give my children a picture of happiness to aspire to in life and relationships. My marriage ended and I needed to support my four children on my own for a while. I revisited my educational roots, joined the Maine Bar and studied to become a mediator. I became the Executive Director of a Community Mediation service, then (and now) performed mediation services on a contract basis. I worked in the Maine State Government for a while as an attorney (I needed health insurance, which being a contract mediator did not allow me to do), but started to take continuing education classes in pottery, watercolor and other media. I began to feel the call to return to my real home as artist.
I met my husband, Ricardo, who gifted me with glass art lessons. I felt like a fish finally being thrown back into the sea, and swam wherever the waves took me. Ric eventually convinced me to leave a job in which I didn't fit, and didn't love, and become an artist full time. The transition was difficult for a while - I felt like I wasn't "doing anything." But once I began "painting with glass," The sky was the limit.
Thanks so much to my mentors, Deb Caron Plourde, Bruce Grantham, Darcy Goode, Narcissus Quagliata, Tim Carey, Marguerite Beneke, Jim Matthews, Paul Messink and so many others who helped along the way. I've finally made it home.