Artist Biography
For
Tamera Menard

I was born an artist. I have always connected to the world through artistic means. As an only child a pencil and paper was my babysitter. Even in school I always had a doodle pad handy for those creative urges, which was almost always! I would draw everything, which would sometimes get me into trouble! I was never bored, when I had to go to work with my mom I would draw portraits of her colleagues. I remember painting “Set the world on fire” on the ceiling in the basement in my childhood home; I called it the art room. So when asked the question “Why do I paint,” my answer is, “Why wouldn’t I paint?” It is like asking a bird “Why do you fly?” I live and breathe through the visual world and I don’t know how to live any differently. When I describe myself “artist” is always the first word. There is only one certainty I have about life, that I am an artist. I was born an artist and no one can take that away from me.

My first true love was art. I have worked in many mediums, such as clay, sketching, charcoal, watercolor, silk flowers, acrylic, pen and ink, oil, pastel, wood burning, carving, silk screening, sculpture, illustration, collage and design to name a few. My favorite medium is oil painting, but I have no favorite subject, I paint what ever moves me. I am fascinated with the natural world, an admiration I acquired from my dad! I adore all of creations colors and the silent wonder the sun adds to them! I always look for signs of life such as, delicate footprints in the snow, sunflower seed shells, or antler sheds in the woods. There will never be enough time to paint all the things that inspire me, in this life or the next!

The desire to paint is an ever present inner hunger. I have to steal time to paint. When I am painting something starts to happen inside. All the stress of life disappears and I am in a place where the paint and brush become my world. Time stands still. I try to plan most of my paintings but sometimes they evolve as I go. I truly don’t care about setting my work apart from every other artist; I just want to paint for the love of painting. Art is a place where I am free. Painting creates a timeless joy in my spirit and a hunger to further evolve as an artist! I have studied and prepared myself and I am ready to set the world on fire!

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