PROGRAM: “Making Your Mark” by Tara Will
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May 13, 2024
ATTENTION: SPS MEMBERS - you will receive an email with directions on how to register.
TARA WILL-
Art is a conversation between viewer and artist.
I believe art is one of the few creative pursuits where anyone can participate. For artists, painting is simultaneously a selfish and self-less act. Selfish in that, through the process of creating, we are able to transform emotions like stress, anxiety, or agitation into peace, comfort, and fulfillment. And self-less because the artist can share that product with others.
Over the past 20 years, I have come to understand that my work is less about the finished product and more about the act of creating. It is through the physical act that I am able to transfer energy and emotion into my work. This realization has made me more attentive to movement, mark-making, and color, all of which are things that I love regardless of subject.
I’ve always strived for authenticity in my work and life. Yet there is a constant pressure to conform in this day and age. Initially I felt that pressure to conform. Until one Plein air event, I saw my work among my peers. I was quite uneasy about my work looking so different. That day I quit trying to be someone else and gave myself permission to fail, to not fit in. It set me free. Suddenly, I could focus on what authentically spoke to me. I found subject matter that sparked a sense of joy, intrigue, and wonder in me; I haven’t stopped searching for this since.
These days, what I paint must engage my mind and push my ability so that I’m always learning and processing my surroundings anew. Ultimately, what I paint needs to fulfill and soothe the parts of me that are stressed, or hurt, or in need of stimulation.
Publications:
January 2021- Southwest Art “Artist to Watch”
Unison Colour Associate Artist
Henri Roche Pastels Featured Artist
Fort Wayne Museum of Art-Paradigm Gallery
Nov 2020 American Art Collector
Education and Experience
2006 BA Visual Art and Philosophy, Mount St. Mary’s University
2022 Eminent Pastellist Status, International Association of Pastel Societies
2022 Juror, Pastel Society of Cape Cod
2020 Washington Society of Landscape Painters
2020 Juror, Pastel Society of Philadelphia
Awards, Exhibition, and Publication
2022 Award of Excellence International Master Circle IAPS
2022 Dakota Pastels Winner Honorable Mention
2021 Artist Choice, 3rd Place 2021 Door County Plein Air
2021 Best use of Color, Olmsted Plein Air
2020 Best in Show, Easton Plein Air
2020 The Pastel Journal, “Touched by the Light” June
2020 Plein Air Magazine, “Turning up the Volume” April/May
2020 Lighthouse Plein Air Event
2020 Second Place, Dakota Pastels Quarterly
2020 Artist Focus American Art Collector, September
2020 Museum Collector Award, Fort Wayne IN
2019 Best in Show, Shades of Pastel National show
2019 Wayne Plein Air Works on Paper Award
2019 Olmsted Park Plein Air Award
2019 Door County Plein Air Honorable Mention
2018 Ellicott City Gino Award
2018 Wayne Plein Air “Plein Air Magazine” Award
2018 Chestertown Plein Air Best in Show, Artists Choice
2018 Brandywine Plein Air Second Place
2018 PASTEL 100 Honorable Mentions, Landscape and Figure
2018 North Carolina Pastel Society, Second Place
2017 Chestertown, MD Plein Air Best in Show, Artists Choice
2017 Wayne Plein Air, Third Place
2017 Dorchester Center for the Arts Plein Air Annual, Third Place
2017 Bucks County Plein Air Merit Award
2017 Int’l Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS) Bronze Award
2017 Ellicott City Plein Air, Third Place
2016 Carroll Arts Council National Juried Show, Second Place
2016 Mountain Maryland Plein Air Quick Draw Competition, First Place
2016 Chestertown Plein Air Competion Quick Draw, Second Place
2016 Cambridge MD Plein Air Quick Draw, First Place
2015 Juried into National Shades of Pastel MPS Show
2015 Solomons Plein Air, Quick Draw, Honorable Mention
2015 Ellicott City Plein Air, Quick Draw, Second Place
2015 Frederick Plein Air, Quick Draw, Second Place
2015 Flag Pond Nationally Juried Show, Second Place
