TRACY DOVEY ARTIST
Inspired by folk culture and wild places
Mummers at the Royal Oak, Fritham, The New Forest Acrylic on board 40 x 40cm Exhibited as part of the Folklore exhibition, The New Forest Heritage Centre, 2026
The Daydreams of Lovey Warne, New Forest Smuggler Acrylic on board 40 x 40cm Exhibited as part of the Folklore exhibition, The New Forest Heritage Centre, 2026
The Naked Man, an old gallows tree where witches dance. Wilverley, The New Forest. Acrylic on board 40 x 40cm Exhibited as part of the Folklore exhibition, The New Forest Heritage Centre, 2026
Yernagate Rising Protector Giant of The New Forest Acrylic on board 40 x 40cm Exhibited as part of the Folklore exhibition, The New Forest Heritage Centre, 2026
Pelt. 8kg steel pins, canvas and rope 130 x 140cm 2025
A Maidens Garland: You took my joy and I want it back Willow, muslin, bronze, Love in a Mist seedheads. 100cm x 400cm 2025 Made with a bursary from aspace, Southampton and exhibited in Gods House Tower.
Coat of the Cruel Mother. Old teastained cotton sheets, handprinted with almost 300 methods of abortion used by women over the centuries. 2024 Exhibited at The Winchester Gallery 2025
Once I was Queen of the May Pastel and oils on paper 110cm x 90cm 2023 Exhibited at the Young Gallery Salisbury 2024
Poppets and a Dead Hare Oil on board 120 x 80cm 2023
Burning Dress. Photograph of a white muslin dress that I handmade and decorated with paint, embroidery and text and then burned. 2022 Exhibited House of Smalls 2024
The Maypole of Hopes and Dreams Still Rises in These Fallow Fields. 4m ash pole 20 x 7m silk and blanket ribbons. Exhibited at God's House Tower 2023
Grandaughter of a Poacher. Self portrait. Selected for Wells Art Contemporary 2022. Oil on board 142 x 125cm
Daughter of a Lorry Driver Self portrait Oil on Canvas 160 x 135cm 2022
The Song Of the Lane: The Lost Chord. Oil on board 102 x 122cm 2022. Exhibited at The Graduate Art Show London 2023 and as part of Home Lands exhibition, The New Forest Heritage Centre 2024
You took my joy and I want it back Oil on Board 130 x 130cm Exhibited as part of Feminine Pleasure and Pain The Winchester Gallery 2022
Seasong II: The Queen of the Whirl In 2022 I was commissioned by Eliza Carthy to do four paintings for the cover artwork of her 30th anniversry album Queen of the Whirl. This is one of them.
About
I am an artist living on the edge of The New Forest. I use folklore, folksong, old customs, games and rituals to explore contemporary issues, particularly rural social and economic disparity. Country living can be a strange mix of bounty and hopelessness but when people have access to their own strong and sinuous roots, their own history and stories, they have anchorage and hope. I seek the stories that connect us and as an artist I'm thinking of different ways of pinning them up on the metaphorical village hall notice board for all to see.I have an MA in Fine Art from Winchester School of Art and am about to begin a year long painting course at The Essential School of Painting in London. I run creative workshops as The Village Hall Draw and have recently been commissioned to illustrate the New Forest Folklore Tarot. I am a founder member of the Forest Folk Artists Collective.
See more of my work on Instagram. Prints available from £100 please contact me for more information.