For Tracey J. Maroni, the Cape Cod family vacations of her childhood weren’t so much a luxurious seaside escape as they were a time to connect with the natural world. Her summers were defined by trips to the National Seashore and dark nights brightened by a sky full of stars. She fondly recalls many happy nights spent at the Woodlot—the beloved Brewster campsite where her family would set up their small camper only meters away from the ocean.

Those years of beach walks and visits to the National Seashore left an indelible mark on Tracey. “My dad was very interested in educating us on the National Seashore,” she explains. “Not even realizing it, he inspired me and instilled in me the importance of respecting nature.” 

Tracey’s paintings explore the natural world as a living, giving entity through a style that straddles the line between representational and non-representational art. Her distinctive approach emerged from her BFA thesis exhibition, which envisioned how various vegetables and flowers might look if one could see them growing above and below the earth.

Tracey also incorporates materials like graphite and fiber into her pieces—inspired by her mother, an avid fiber artist and painter who crafted with all of her children. “We worked with clay, stained glass, and more,” Tracey recalls. “But I always had a penchant for drawing and painting. One of my first memories was experiencing finger paints and glossy paper and discovering how tactile and tangible a language that was for me.” When Tracey showed serious interest in fine art, her mother enrolled her in a charcoal drawing class, which was a turning point for her artistic career.

Tracey studied fine arts at Greenfield Community College before completing her degree at UMass Amherst, where she primarily worked with oil paints. Though she has come to prefer acrylics, her oil painting technique carried over. “When I transitioned to using acrylics, I still wanted my work to look like oil paintings,” she says. “I had the knowledge of color and the technique to bend acrylic paint in that way and became more proficient with time.”

Though Tracey’s formal education provided a thorough foundation, these days her approach is more spontaneous. “I don’t formalize anything,” she says. “I like to be open to all of my ideas when I begin a piece. There are more unintentional discoveries that happen in my artwork than anything that is planned.” 

The childhood wonder Tracey felt for Cape Cod has transformed into a deep gratitude for protected places like the National Seashore and led to a profound understanding of the importance of protecting the planet—a theme that routinely appears in her work. She still makes multiple visits to the Cape each year, inspired by the atmosphere and beautiful natural surroundings. She is particularly entranced by the light. By contrasting light and shadow in her work, Tracey seeks to capture the feeling one might have while gazing upon a beautiful scene—a misty ocean morning, perhaps, or dune grass swaying beneath the sun.

Today, if Tracey isn’t tending to her herb and flower gardens, she’s admiring them from the window of her home studio, gathering inspiration and fostering her cherished connection to the natural world. She has often wondered where her work is ultimately leading, and has come to terms with the only satisfactory answer she’s ever been able to reach—there is no end; her work is always evolving and ever-changing, and perhaps that’s a good thing. It staves off stagnancy and encourages exploration. But despite her ever-changing artistry, nature will always be her muse. 

“I paint every day,” she says, “that feeling of communion with the natural world will always inspire me.”

Tracey Maroni’s work can be found at Cove Gallery in Wellfleet.

~Hannah Kunze