What I love most about tiki bars is that they are dark, mysterious and have a slight tinge of danger. When I look at Tracy Folks velvet paintings, I get the same exact feelings. Tracy’s paintings create a dark mood where the sun is always setting. Here is Tracy’s story …
What is the tiki scene like where you live?
Tracy- Amazingly, Palm Springs has a happening tiki scene taking place in this desert city. We have three great tiki bars, The Reef, Bootlegger’s Tiki Bar and The Tonga Hut and let’s not forget Tracy Turco’s Tiki Hotel. Palm Springs also hosts Alohana Marketplace twice a year as well as big weekend events called Tiki Caliente at the Caliente Tropics hotel.
The world-famous artist Shag has his flagship gallery here, called The Shag Store. Much of his work is tiki & Palm Springs themed.
Palm Springs has long been a mecca for Mid Century architecture and twice a year visitors from all over the world attend Modernism Week events, which include home tours of mid-century wonders such as the Royal Hawaiian estates, architects Wexler & Harrison, built 1959-1960.
What brought you into the ‘Tiki lifestyle” and how long has it been part of your life?
Tracy- I became enamored with the Tiki lifestyle when I was growing up in Southern California. Hawaiian, Polynesian & surf themed movies were thriving at that time and Polynesian restaurants such as Trader Vic’s, Don the Beachcomber, Trader Sam’s, Bahooka or even Disneyland’s famed Tiki Room. Once you walked through the doors of these tiki palaces, you were transported to another world. An exotic and sultry world of dark bars & tropical drinks in original mugs, Polynesian food, exotic plants, bamboo furniture, fire dancers, hula dancers, cool vibe music and tropical moonlit nights. Oh, and let’s not forget the huge wood carved Tikis backlit with Malibu lights! Who doesn’t want to live in a world like that?
Can you give a little history of how you became an artist?
Tracy- I was interested in art and painting before I was six. Because of my interest in art, my parents purchased me a few paint-by-number kits for beginners but I remember thinking why do I need these numbers? After that epiphany, I convinced my parents to buy me a plain canvas and real oil paint kit. My first painting was submitted to the Ventura County Fair, where I won a blue ribbon for my age group, which was seven to ten. I was seven.
I continued to paint & draw throughout my childhood and early teens, practicing by sketching the works of Leonardo DaVinci and other masters. In junior college, I enrolled in some Life Painting & Drawing classes, which taught me to break away from careful works of reproduction and celebrate the wild use of color and interpretation. Eventually, I was selling my art at Art Fairs in So. Cal. but once I found employment in a corporate environment I had little time for art. Instead I shifted my creativity to interior design work for both residential and commercial projects.
When the pandemic hit, I found myself unemployed with a lot of spare time on my hands, the first thing I wanted to do was paint. Not long after I had finished a few oils on canvas, my friend, Cindra, convinced me to produce some tiki paintings for the Alohana (tiki) Marketplace, where she was to sell vintage Hawaiian memorabilia, and I agreed. However, I wanted to do something different than what current tiki artists were doing. I began to think of vintage velvet paintings that used to be common in Polynesian bars of the 50’s, 60’s & 70’s. This type of art was dismissed by art critics and is broadly considered low-brow, with few exceptions such as Edgar Leetag, the Father of Modern Velvet painting. By the way, I took one tiki-themed velvet painting in a big bamboo frame to the Alohana Marketplace and within minutes there were two parties bidding on it.
Here’s what I learned about velvet: As I knew nothing about painting on velvet and found nothing online about the DIY process for painting on velvet, I just dove in and experimented. What I found is that there are many types of velvet, from silk velvets to synthetic ones, thick ones and smooth ones, see-through velvets and stretchy velvets. The best velvets are higher quality, dense & non-stretchy fabrics with a lower nap to it, meaning low hair. Painting on velvet is not easy because you are working on negative space so you have to build up many layers of paint to get your image to pop. leaving the dark parts in velvet alone. Use the brightest colors in your paint kit. Small brushes work best and you have to methodically lay on your paint with careful brushstrokes, mostly a singular direction that works best with the nap of the fabric. It doesn’t matter whether you use oil or acrylic but my preference is oil.
How would you describe your style?
Tracy- Eclectic and brightly colored works that feature tropical scenes or interesting people. My first few velvets were painted from the tikis I had in my own yard, mostly warrior tikis. Later, I experimented with people in tiki themed environments. Presently, I am working with these different styles:
Straight up Tiki velvets – It’s all about the Tiki
B-movie velvets – Think of sexy vixens from the 50”s & 60’s, featured with tiki gods
Film Noir Meets Tiki Bar velvet’s – Vintage screen sirens featured with a tropical drink and moody environment
High art velvets – Serious quality Polynesian-style portraits
I have plans to start a Burlesque series
Portraits and other commissions welcome!
Who or what would be some of your influences?
Tracy- For velvets, I look to Edgar Leetag (1904-1953), who is considered the Father of Modern Velvet painting. He produced the highest quality of work recognized today. Other tiki-genre influences are Dawn Frazier and Richey Fahey.
What is your favorite Tiki drink?
Tracy- I usually ask the bartender what their specialty invention or favorite invention is and try that first. Otherwise, my usual defaults are Navy Grog, Pain Killer & of course, Mai Tai’s.
What does the future hold for you and your velvet paintings?
Tracy- Not sure. Hopefully, my art will inspire sales and commissions. Currently, I am the featured artist in Tracy Turco’s Tiki Hotel in Palms Springs, where I have 21 original velvets on display. Please note, these paintings are for sale and you can see them on Instagram @MidModDesignTeam
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