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Tricia Harding: The paper engineer

By Vicki Hillhouse

Tricia Harding works with paper the way other artists might work with paints.

She uses different kinds of paper — some collected in her travels, some purchased for her by loved ones and some of it handmade in her studio — to create small, often abstract, works as a recreation or reflection of her environment or ideas.

“I’d always done ceramics and weaving throughout my early years, and then got exposed to paper art,” she says.

Paper is sliced, pasted in layers, crinkled, drawn on and otherwise modified.

“And that’s all stuff that becomes my palette,” she says. “Instead of paint tubes I have color that’s on pieces of paper.”

Retired from a management career in business, she is a co-founder of Combine Art Collective, where she is among the featured artists. The downtown Walla Walla gallery exhibits the work of 15 local artists and hosts special events while also selling fine art and crafts by regional artists.

Watch a video to learn more about Tricia Harding by clicking here!