Grace McKee is excited to be in her new studio at the West Tampa Center For The Arts in the historic Santaella Cigar Factory at 1906 Armenia Ave. in Tampa. This experience is an opportunity for her to grow as an artist.
Grace McKee, of MiraBay, is a talented artist who is taking a big step in furtherance of her career as a professional artist. McKee is opening a studio at The West Tampa Center For The Arts in the historic Santaella Cigar Factory building, located at 1906 Armenia Ave. in Tampa.
“Moving into this studio gives me an opportunity to work with so many artists. All of them are extremely talented and produce high quality art. Interacting with so many interesting, dedicated and talented artists is great for inspiration,” said McKee.
Walking through the historic Santaella Cigar Factory building to McKee’s studio (No. 214), it is easy to see how she can get inspiration. The history of the building and the artistic talent all around you makes you feel like you want to pull out a paint brush and start creating.
McKee is both an artist and a teacher. McKee works with acrylics and mixed media. She is adept at and fond of Gyotaku, which is fish rubbing. McKee studied with Mineo Yamamoto, a Japanese Master Gyotaku artist. The technique that McKee learned involves laying silk over the fish and tapping the paint on until a texture comes through. “This method is quite time consuming and intricate,” explained McKee.
You can view McKee’s work at www.GraceMcKee.com or www.GraceMcKee.blogspot.com. McKee offers original works of art for sale as well as high quality Giclees which are prints on canvas or archival paper from high resolution digital photos. “The Giclees are more affordable, but you can hardly tell the difference,” said McKee.
McKee’s work is on display at the Hoffman Porges Gallery in Ybor City, Sunday’s Restaurant in Ybor City, the Ybor Art Association Gallery on 7th Ave. in Ybor and Wimauma Restaurant on MacDill Ave. in Tampa.
For more information on her paintings, Giclees and art classes, contact her at grace.mekee@live.com or follow her at facebook.com/grace-mckee.com.
