Mermaids, martinis and music

If you are a friend of Tracy Gudgel, don’t be shocked if you walk into an art gallery or a nightclub on Marco Island and see likeness on the wall.

Well, some of yourself anyway. You may see your face and head well represented on the body of a mermaid. Really.

One of this Marco Island artist’s more inventive techniques is putting her friends to work in her art. She combines her enjoyment of friends and her love for all things mermaid.

You’ll get the concept as soon as you walk into Tracy’s workspace at the Waterfront gallery, one of the three Marco artist gallery/studio facilities at the Esplanade.

Or you’ll get other versions of the Tracy thing at the Bombay Club “Martini’s Upstairs” venue on Bald Eagle Drive.

Mermaids? Why mermaids?

“I would love to be a mermaid myself,” Tracy admits. “From when I was 8 years old I was a synchronized swimmer for Neptune’s Daughters, a team in Louisville Kentucky. From there I went to the Olympic training camp in Colorado Springs. It was when they first had synchronized swimming as an Olympic team sport. I competed state wide but didn’t make the Olympic team.”

Tracy is not a synchronized painter. Her art is a lot different than much of what we see these days. It’s a combination of memory, imagination, brightly colored images and the addition of photography.

“I choose a photo I’ve taken, then I paint with acrylic on top of it, on canvas. I digitally enhance the photographs to make it unique to the person in the picture. Then, I turn them into mermaids.”

So how do these mermaid creations, eye-catching and fun as they are, become the main wall features in a martini bar?

“Darlene Davies, the co-manager at Martini’s Upstairs, asked me to do a mural on the wall. It was her idea to incorporate mermaids and martinis into the martini bar.

“I made the mural and it sold, so I made the latest one and went on from there.”

A feature of most of Tracy’s murals and other pieces is the martini glass, home to a variety of martinis, appletinis and cosmopolitan drinks. And mermaids.

“It’s fitting for the Martini Bar and in a home, it’s perfect for a living room area or somewhere near the pool. I love flowers and do flower photography and include flowers in murals and paintings.”

After looking at Tracy’s work for a while, some people think they’ve got it and her figured out. But then they come across one which features a mountain landscape of Sedona, Arizona under water. What?

“The seaweed area where marine life swim features groupings of roses, attached to the seaweed,” Tracy says with a grin. “So it’s a seaweed garden based around a Sedona underwater landscape.” We didn’t quite get it, but it bursts off the canvas with color, texture, light and just plain fun.

OK. So we have mermaids and martinis and mermaids in martini glasses and Sedona, Arizona, under water. Is that it? Don’t be silly. Tracy has more to show and more to do. She is inspired to create an underwater world of her own.

“My latest mural is the Conch Express — Queen Rose riding in a conch sleigh guided by her team of trusty seahorses with conch pearls as the reins. It’s spiced up with glitter and acrylic paint, hovering over a treasure chest. The front of the seahorse team is the leafy seahorse.”

People who go to Martini’s Upstairs for evenings of music, martinis and frequent live shows, seem to like Tracy’s mermaid-centric art on the walls.

“They all look at the art,” says co-manager Darlene. “Some will spend 15 or 20 minutes looking and they talk about it, asking questions. Some of it has sold.

“Tracy’s themes are popular, maybe because they blend in with martinis. Also, a lot of people are intrigued with the mermaids.”

Martini’s Upstairs is showcasing live musicians these days as well as mermaids on canvas.

One of those tribute performers, Neil Zirconia, who imitates Neil Diamond, liked Tracy’s art work on the walls when he worked the audience at the club in April. He’ll get a chance to see the mermaids again when Mr. Zirconia/Diamond performs at Martini’s Upstairs on June 5.

Sometimes tribute performers will change a lyric or two to please their local audiences. Could it be this fellow will do that on his next Martini’s Upstairs booking?

Might we hear “his” Neil Diamond replacing, “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” with, “She Ain’t Heavy, She’s My Mermaid”? Or maybe he’ll finish up with, “Girl, You’ll Be A Mermaid Soon?”

For information on the mermaid art or the stage shows, call (239) 986-0406.