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About the Artist - Trisha Selgrath |
| While still attending college, I met my future husband, Randy, at the Houston airport. Now, that’s a story. We were married about a year after I graduated from the University of North Texas in 1986. I traded in my unusual maiden name, Teffeteller, for another one, Selgrath. Recently, we celebrated the twentieth anniversary of our first date. He continues to be the love of my life, a true partner and is so supportive of my creativity. After years of climbing the ranks in advertising, I finally reached my goal of becoming a Creative Director and realized that the higher I went, the fewer hands-on creative projects I got to keep. At times, I thought I was on the fast track but there were plenty of bumps in the road like cancer to help me refocus and prioritize my life. It was fun coming up with concepts, but I wanted to get my hands dirty. After deciding to create art, I decided to freelance again carving out time to paint and start a family. |  Dawn - oil on canvas |
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My children are such precious gifts that add greater purpose to every area of my life. In 1997, while finally pregnant with my first, I was painting a large mural on his bedroom wall when the idea for Imaginative Murals was born. People loved the mural and wanted one of their own, but I didn’t want to be gone painting in people’s homes leaving my infant behind. Others asked what I would do once my child outgrows the mural and I would respond, “Well, first I’ll cry and then, I’ll paint over it”. So I combined all my experience with printing and my love of painting to create inexpensive prints of murals that look better than the real thing. I painted the murals in my home studio while the baby slept and Randy called on stores to sell them on the idea. Launching a business and starting a family at the same time is not easy but it has afforded us both more time with our children while we ride the entreprenurial roller coaster. We were the first on the market selling die-cut, trompe l’oile style murals and quickly gained international distribution through retailers, decorators, catalogs, TV shopping networks and the internet. |
| When I turned 40, I longed to add deeper meaning to my work. I guess I’ve always been a philosopher and wanted to share some observations I’ve made during my journey. While continuing to work on the Imaginative Murals and Focal Points lines, I began to pray for guidance. During this time, my mother, Melody Allison passed away after struggling many years as the result of a stroke that left her body crippled but her mind alert. Mother was my spiritual mentor and my greatest advocate. She led by example teaching me how to set goals and transcend circumstances through knowledge and strength of spirit. One of thirteen chidren born to share-croppers in the hills of Tennessee, she escaped poverty through education earning four degrees and rising to the top of her profession becoming an Administrator of Nursing and later, a teacher. Her love of poetry, literature, music and art left indelible impressions upon my soul. From my father, Jim Teffeteller, I learned strength of character, do-it-yourself mentality, craftsmanship and a love for nature. From his father, I learned about the land, farming and animals. Many of my paintings reflect the sense of wonder I still feel about my surroundings. |  Believe - embrace the possibility |
 Aspire - seek transcendence to a higher level |
After much soul searching, I was ready to put my ego aside and ask God how I might be of service. I tried to reserve quiet time and leave my mind open. During one of these meditations, my mind was filled with motivational words and their meanings. They were action verbs of how to create a more meaningful life and the meanings weren’t like those in the dictionary but more akin to poetic verse. Soon, I had pages of them - almost 200 definitions. I knew from that first moment of inspiration that these messages were meant to be shared. What proved to be much more difficult was designing art to express the words. Once I released my attachment to my traditional style, I was free to focus on expression over technique. I have had so much fun! I started to work the opposite of how I did in the past. Using graphic lines and bold colors, I created abstracts depicting people devoid of external embellishments while focusing on their emotional essence. They are meant to represent everyone and emphasize what really defines us - the intention of our spirits. |
 Hope - unwavering expectation sustained by the spirit |
I am so excited about this new phase of my life and my art. I hope you will enjoy sharing it as much as I enjoy creating it. |
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