Taratories Blog

Shining out of the darkness

Recently, I had someone reach out to me about doing a commissioned painting that she would give to her older sister for her birthday.  She shared some photos with me from her childhood and she wanted to capture this moment in time from when they were children. She had fond memories of her older sister draping both of them in fabrics to play "dress up."  This photo was the only remnant that she had from that memory.  She also gave me some clearer photos to work from to capture their likeness so I combined the photos to make the finished product.

IMG_1436.jpg

In the radial design around the older sister I used her name, "Charlotte" to form the design.  I have done this before with my art students but have never done it in my own work before.  Her name is flipped and mirrored in every other section.  Look directly under the peacock, start at the gold "C" and read the name all the way to across to the purple "E."  It was fun to make the name into a hidden element in the painting and it was really fun to watch my client and her sister try to find it!

"Shining Out of the Darkness", 20X20

"Shining Out of the Darkness", 20X20

When I drew out the design, the tails of the "E" letters linked up together to form a star! I couldn't believe it!  I used the negative space around the letters to paint the gold to reveal the star.  I love that it was around Charlotte's face since she was supposed to be the star of this painting!  Capturing the light on these sisters was really fun and I am inspired to paint some more portraits with unique lighting. To accentuate the sun's light, I used shaded letters on their dresses, heads, and bodies.  If you have a memory that you would like to capture in a unique painting designed custom for you, email me at taratories@gmail.com and we can start the conversation...  

IMG_1884.jpg
IMG_1881.jpg
IMG_1880.jpg

"Remembering Wild Horses"

Recently, I had the unique opportunity to do a painting for someone based on the lyrics of a beautiful song called, "Remember Wild Horses" by Birds of Chicago."  I have never done something like this, but I was really excited about the challenge!  Here is the song and lyrics below...

Remember Wild Horses

 

First daughter of a Knight of Columbus

Friend to moonbeams and painters’ brushes

There was not a single one among us

Who thought she’d be alone

 

Now she loves her nieces and all her nephews

Green tea and the good view

Of the butterfly weeds and the coneflowers

Out back behind her home

 

Remember wild horses running

Oh! With the morning in their eyes

Ears pinned back on free land

Under free blue skies

You don’t have to wipe away your tears

Go on and let ‘em fall

You're just remembering wild horses is all

 

Down at the Whirlaway I saw an old buddy

Kind of laughing in his beer I said man what’s so funny

He looked up at me like he wanted to punch me

He said nothing’s funny not a damn things’s funny

I loved her so long I believed that she loved me

I promised her she promised me

 

Remember wild horses….

 

Well his mind was bright but his body played tricks

Would not be long before it flat out quit

Chopsticks in a bag of old leather

Alone in his room with the ghost of past summers

He can see her now he can see her now

Sunlight through her camisole

One hand over her eye to block the sun

Waiting by the window for her only one

 

Remember wild horses ...

I started with painting the girl who this painting was for first.  Then, I formed a circular frame around her head to frame her face.  Painting the horses in motion helped to show the wild nature of the horses.  I chose pink as the color for the horses and painted them in an ombre effect where each one was getting lighter and lighter as they went around the circle.

IMG_0887.jpg

A coneflower was incorporated into the painting to go with the lyrics, and I also added a butterfly to give the background some life.

IMG_0904.JPG

A little detail that I decided to add into the painting was the suggestion of forget-me-not flowers on her shirt.  I used this flower in particular because of its symbolism.

The last part was adding copper leaf to the top of what I had painted.  I'm not going to lie, I was terrified to do this part because once I applied the copper leaf, there was no going back.  I have used gold leaf before in my work, but only in little bits. I have never used copper leafing and never used it in such large masses.  I really felt like the painting needed another layer and some texture added to it and this seemed like the perfect solution.  As soon as I started laying the leaf down, the feelings of being terrified slowly turned to giddiness!  It is always good to take risks here and there because that is when pure magic happens.  After I finished applying the copper leaf, I realized that I never added stars in the sky and I was so excited that I could make it look like the copper leaf was dispersing into stars in the night sky!  In the end, it all came together as it should and I was very pleased.

IMG_0955.JPG
"Remembering Wild Horses" 15X15

"Remembering Wild Horses" 15X15

Email me at taratories@gmail.com if you have any inquiries about a commissioned painting you are dreaming up.

A Marchesa Moment

Back in April I decided to give fashion illustration a whirl.  I started with a couple looks from Marchesa.  The first one pictured below is from the Marchesa Spring Summer 2016 collection.  

This next look is from the Marchesa Fall Winter 2016 collection. 

13687167_1077983912286093_1977071714_n(1).jpg

This week Georgina Chapman Marchesa, founder of Marchesa, posted one of my illustrations on her personal Instagram page.  Then, last night, to my surprise, 3 photos of my illustrations were posted on the official Marchesa Instagram page! To have the designer of the dresses I was drawing recognize my work in this way was surreal and quite an honor!  I was so touched that they appreciated my art just as much as I have appreciated their art!  Their gowns are so inspired and artfully crafted, I just want them all.  

Prints of these two prints are now available for purchase on my Etsy page!  I am so excited to get them in homes all across America so that everyone can enjoy a Marchesa gown.  If you can't own one for your body, at least hang one on your wall!  Prints can be purchased HERE.

"Instagraham"

I just finished a painting today of a beautiful mother and child.  I have found that the type of art that brings me the most joy to create is the kind that I have the most connection with.  I may or may not know my subject that I am doing a portrait of personally, but either way, when there is a mother and child in a loving embrace such as this, I feel instantly connected.  God blessed me four times with babies to snuggle and with each child it was a magical experience.  What I would give to go back in time and experience those tender moments again...

I took this photo of them when this baby was about a month old.  The fact that she was a first time mother made this moment I captured even more special.  

I worked in my medium of a mixture of fluid acrylics and colored pencil on canvas. Layer upon layer, and wash upon wash, I developed this painting and brought it to a soft and dreamy place.

For this custom painting, she requested blues and greens along with hydrangeas.  I incorporated hydrangeas in a more subtle abstract way in the background which gave some depth and texture to the painting.  I snuck in some bird silhouettes and added some touches of gold, of course.  These are two signature elements I feel MUST be included in the portraits that I do ;)  I played around with the composition with this painting and placed the mother and baby off center and coming out of the corner. I was pleased with how it turned out and I can't wait to do more!  I am taking orders for mother and baby portraits, but these orders will not be started until 2017.  To place your order email me at taratories@gmail.com or click HERE.  

"instagraham" 20X20

"instagraham" 20X20

Bonds Of Love

About 3 months ago we lost a very special man in our church too early in life.  His name was Ricky Miller.  He left behind his wife Liz and their four precious children.  Soon after his passing I was approached by someone who wanted to have me do a portrait of him and their sweet daughter.  This was to be a gift not only for his wife, but also for his daughter who would grow up without her daddy.  I was so touched by the thoughtfulness and generosity of this dear friend.  I searched for a photograph that I could use as reference.  I found a photo video montage and took a screen shot of this one to use.  

I changed a few things like tilting his head in closer with hers, giving them more of a lively glow, and changing her dress.  Having them emerge out of the dark like this was something I have never done with the current medium I am working with and I really enjoyed bringing a little chiaroscuro into this painting.  I prayed for his family all the way through the time I spent painting and it was heartbreaking contemplating so much on their pain and loss.  When I paint people I become instantly connected with whomever I am painting.  It is inescapable.

When I went to choose the kind of flower that I was going to use, I decided to go with honeysuckle.  I chose it not only for its beauty, but for its symbolism which is "bonds of love" which I felt was so appropriate for this piece.  Somehow a bird always sneaks into my paintings.  They seem like the perfect balance to the composition and finishing touch so I add them.  This time I chose a hummingbird which became inspiration for some of the colors I chose to use in the rest of the painting.  

Of course I added some gold bling on the bird and also on part of the flower's stamens.  

The phrase "art is so personal" is an understatement.  This is as personal as you can get and I love that this moment was memorialized on canvas for his daughter to have forever.  I feel honored that I was chosen to paint this and I pray that his daughter will always know how much his daddy loved him every time she looks at it.  To read a blog written by Ricky's strong and admirable wife, go to www.musingswiththemillers.blogspot.com

"Bonds of Love" 20X20

"Bonds of Love" 20X20

Fashion Illustration: A Relic Revisited

Recently I had a friend suggest the idea of fashion illustration to me.  When I was a little girl I used to copy pictures of fashion models out of magazines and make my own books out of them.  I kept a lot of my old art work from when I was young and I found this little book of my fashion drawings which makes me laugh so hard!  I don't know what is funnier, the weird title I gave my book, the 80's clothing the women are wearing, or the quirky face (top left)!  I literally hadn't thought about the idea of fashion illustration since I was probably 10 years old until now!  The thought of combining two of my loves, fashion and drawing, got me excited.  

I quickly set out to try my hand at it as an adult and bought some fresh new art supplies to really get me jazzed up.  I just LOVE brand new art supplies, there is nothing better!!  I thought a lot about how I wanted my illustrations to look before I started.  Then I looked for an inspirational photo to work from and found a beautiful Marchesa gown that I wanted to draw.  I loved all that was going on in the dress and the styling of the model.

I first did a pencil drawing of the model, scanned it, and then I printed it out several times and experimented with how I was going to do the background before I committed to anything on my good paper.  Unlike working digitally on photoshop, if you mess up, you might just ruin your entire piece so its always a good idea to do some trial runs first.  

Fashion Illustration 2.jpeg

This is where I landed.  Since her dress was so detailed with so much going on in it, I went with a more simple background.  I can't escape gold these days (or birds, for that matter), and I also find the circular shape surrounding a subject so comforting so these things were once again incorporated in the background. I used guache, acrylic, and pen and ink to complete the design and frame her face. 

I had SO much fun doing this illustration and I will continue to explore fashion illustration and see where it takes me.  I think its good to sometimes revisit an old idea in a new decade, you may find that you've dug up an old treasure thats been buried with years and time, but once its dusted off, it feels new and wonderful!!