Tracy H. Sugg is an artist, but don’t define her as only that. Sure she has a master’s degree in sculpture, an eight-year apprenticeship with a master sculptor, an exhibit in New York City and commissioned pieces all around our great country, but don’t label her as only a sculptor.

She is a mother, a wife, a Christian and then a sculptor. While sculpting in bronze is her passion and how she makes a living, she wouldn’t be able to do so without the help and love of her husband and four children, and she wouldn’t have the gift or possess the philosophy if it weren’t for her Christian faith.

“Ever since I saw that bronze bear in that little foundry and art gallery in New Mexico I knew that is what I wanted to do. It has never wavered; if anything it has only grown stronger,” Tracy said of her first experience with what would become her passion and eventually her livelihood.

She grew up on a farm in New Mexico. When she was eight years old, Tracy and her father went on their regular horseback trail ride. They came upon a town with a small art gallery and that is where her artistic future first set root.

She always had a talent for drawing and making things out of the clay and mud she found in her family’s yard, but her talents lacked any real direction until that day.

Because she lived on a farm, she began to sculpt the animals around her. She soon realized that she wasn’t as good at sculpting the human figure. In that realization, she began looking for training and teachers that could help her further develop her talents.

“I know there is a mindset that training can inhibit your natural abilities, but I never found that. Even studying art history and looking at the masters. When you can stand on the shoulders of those that came before you then you can get so much further,” said Tracy.

Tracy spent much of her young life searching for someone who could teach her the classical, meaning figurative/realistic sculpture. At the time of her search, many in the profession were studying or focused on the abstract or avant-garde, which never really appealed to Tracy. She finally found what she was looking for in Dr. Sam Gore at Mississippi College.

Not only was he her professor in her undergraduate and graduate training, but she also apprenticed under him for eight years. He even made the call to her parents to convince them that Tracy had the talent to thrive more so as an artist than an art teacher.

“We are both Christians and that influenced our philosophy, which was that an artist is a servant to humanity. It is not an ego trip for the artist. We have been given this gift to give beauty and truth and to serve the world through our gift. We have a responsibility, and a part of that responsibility is to never stop learning. To seek training and improve the gift,” said Tracy.

Upon completing her master’s degree, she got married to a man named Robert Sugg and started a family. She now has four children.

“When I go speak at conferences or even unveilings of my sculptures, I always mention the four greatest sculptures we ever did are our children. They have participated in everything we have done. They’ve pounded clay. They’ve helped build the armatures. They’ve cooked suppers so we can get things done on the deadline,” said Tracy.

In 2000, Tracy and husband Robert, who is a potter, were invited to exhibit their work at the Russell Senate Building in Washington, D.C.

“Robert was working retail and I was home with the kids and he said, ‘Ok, we are at the point where we need to go full time with this.’ After that show he started taking over the business side. I could not have done this by myself. Everybody thinks Tracy H. Sugg, but I am just the figurehead, he is the ship.”

Most of the time the person behind the scenes of an artist’s business is the artist’s spouse. Tracy estimates about 85 percent of an artist’s time can be spent on the business side.

“My name may be on all the sculptures, but it was Robert who negotiated the deals, welded the armatures, he would do the rubber mold. I could not ask for a more supportive help-mate or soul-mate. I could never be what I am without him.”

The Sugg family was living in Mississippi and was doing very well. They had a few monuments in the area and a large installation in a Catholic church in Jackson, Miss.

“You start at home then you go state-wide then you go to the region. We were thinking Southeast region. We wanted to be between Nashville and Chattanooga and we wanted a historic home. Our whole family loves history and that is why I love doing the monuments because I thrive on the historic research. On all my monuments everything is accurate down to the button of the coat and its placement.”

Their love of history and the desire to raise their kids in the South drew them to a house that was built in 1852 and used as a hospital during the Civil War in Wartrace, TN.

“First it is mental. I spend a lot of time mentally sculpting and going through ideas, and once I think I’ve got it down I’ll grab friends, kids, my husband to stand in the positions I’m thinking. I like using live models because they’ll stand there and then they’ll do something that is natural to them that may be an improvement on what I was already thinking.”

Once the idea settles and the mental image becomes clear, the physical process begins to take place.

“The initial part where my hands first touch the clay and the clay is roughed out. My hands are flying and the clay is quickly taking shape is my favorite part. It’s like the rough sketch for the painter. It’s that first initial creative burst.”

Tracy’s goal as a child was to make beautiful things that people would enjoy. Her goals have been expanded in the years since, but the core remains.

“My goal is to bring truth and beauty to people’s lives. Whether it is through a private commission or a public monument that shows some hero that doesn’t need to be forgotten for their selfless acts of duty or devotion. The human figure is the most expressive thing on this earth so when you create the human figure it can express any attribute or characteristic. When we leave, our work will live beyond our children, grandchildren and their children. Bronze is deathless. People that look at that art are encouraged and inspired. That is our way to serve humanity.”

Tracy’s website is tracyhsugg.com. Her book is In Pursuit of the Artist’s Arcanum. Her most recent exhibit, “The Spirit of Polonia,” debuted at the Polish Consulate in New York City and is on display at The Kosciuszko Foundation through March.