About the Artist

Hi, I'm Tara ... an abstract painter, sculptor and jewelry designer from southern Virginia. Inspired by nature, I alternate between impressionism and expressionism, seeking to paint the beauty of things seen and unseen. My passion is connecting my art with the viewer on multiple levels leaving them with a unique energy and emotion. I describe my paintings as the culmination of all of my training and experiences as a jewelry designer, sculptor, interior designer.... not to mention an avid world traveller. I also enjoy doing custom commission work. If you are interested in speaking with me, please reach out! I would love to meet you.

Expanded Bio

Whether working with clients or creating a new painting, Tara's calling is to connect people with their passion, creativity and sense of wonder. She feels that each painting is a language, spoken to the viewer, evoking an individual emotional response. 

Spending her early college years studying sculpture at the esteemed Virginia Commonwealth University Art School, Tara completed her degree in Fine Arts at The American University with a minor in Figure Sculpture. After school, the big crucial move for any artist ... New York City. There Tara enjoyed a thirty year career as an executive,  jewelry designer and fabricator. In 2015 the decision came to move back to Virginia, it was during this time she discovered her talent and passion for painting.

As a three dimensional artist, Tara had been perplexed as to how to turn a flat, blank surface into a three dimensional work of art, but when a friend asked her to do a painting she accepted the challenge. On a six feet by four feet board and a lot of redos, five days later she emerged with her first completed painting. It was a sensation. That was it, she was hooked, and her arrival onto the art scene has been met with overwhelming success both in the US and internationally.

She describes her process as a visual and emotional download expressed through the composition and paint, be it abstract impressionism or expressionism. She is inspired to capture moments as if it is a frame of a photograph, suspended in time. Although her style favors the abstract, she enjoys incorporating an element of realism while maintaining an abstract sensibility. Her individual style is best described as energetic and emotional, Tara is able to translate what she sees into an animated painting, transmitting the energy and emotion of the moment in time. Her drive is to please her clients and deliver a painting beyond their wildest expectations. This is what has gained her such rapid recognition and appreciation.

The artist shows her work across the US in galleries and exhibitions. She works out of a warehouse in the industrial district in Martinsville, VA, her home town, where she also has the Compton Gallery. When not painting she can be found traveling the world and enjoying her dog Loulou.