The Nightjar (Tarra) has been a member of Team Treasury since May 2009 (Same month we started the team). It has been so much fun getting to know this talented and friendly artist, and now we get to peer a little deeper with these photos and questionnaire Tarra has provided for us. Thank you Tarra for being an awesome team member!
Personal…
What furniture/design/home décor piece do you love most? A bronze statuary horse that my Dad left to me in his will. When I look at it my dad is with me again, encouraging me to do my art.
Married/Single? Married for 13 years
Kids/no kids ? Two kids, Pearson and Fauna , Boy/Girl Twins who will be three years old on Jan 12th-yeah!
Pets/no pets? Two curmudgeonly 20 year old cats, three legged Sweet Pea and her brother Spartacus. We got the two of them at the pound and they were from the same litter, so they are twins too!
Day job? College Art teacher and professional artist/painter
Location? I now live in Oakland, California but I grew up in New York City.
Age? Older than my darling cats
How many languages do you speak and what are they? Sadly, only English
Do you play an instrument? I had guitar lessons when I was 12, I wanted to be in a girl band and be cool but didn't want to put in the effort to actually learn how to play ;O
Can you sing? … Not if I want you to like me… I really wish I could sing though!
Lets Talk Business…
Where do you get you inspirations? Mostly from my dreams but also from watching nature closely. Before I had children I watched birds and collected them when I found them. Much to my husbands dismay I would freeze them and take them out to paint when I needed a still life subject. I have a stunningly beautiful Cedar Waxwing in my freezer who had flown into our front living room window. I also have a tiny Bewicks wren… and an my mascot Armadillo for my studio- but he is taxidermed and I didn’t find him in the wild. I also have a giant collection of nests, my hummingbird nest is my favorite.
Does your family help with your business/hobby? My husband has always, always helped with carting around my paintings to one show or another, he is tremendously helpful. Some of my work is 5 or 6 foot paintings on wood panel, so that is not a small task. My three year old son Pearson always comments and critiques my felt animals (when he is angling to have it)
Do you like your craft/hobby? Oh yeah! Absolutely! Sometimes I feel frustration if things don’t go as well as I had hoped and then I think that I may quit. So I think to myself , “what would I do if I quit painting?” and the answer is always that I would then have more time to paint. Painting and creating art work and craft is so much a part of me that I cant imagine anything different.
How do you market? Mostly by word of mouth but also on Twitter, my blog www.nightjarnightjar.blogspot.com and by advertising on Modish, Craftcult, and what ever other blog/or website that catches my fancy. Also, there is an event in Oakland called the Oakland Art Murmur where galleries keep their doors open late the first Friday of the month. The gallery where I show my paintings, Mercury20, has hordes of people during the Murmur, so I put out my cards for my Etsy shop then.
What gets neglected when you're tending to your shop or creating? My beauty sleep....and also my clothes and hair and personal grooming. Sometimes I get so into it I don't notice any time going by and then-bam!-3 hours later I still haven't taken that shower.
For Fun…..
When was the last time you had a staring contest? Wow. Maybe when I was twelve with my cat. He won.
When was the last time you fell asleep with the TV on? I never have fallen asleep with the TV on so, maybe I am saving that special experience for old age.
Do you believe in love at first sight? There is surely Lust at first sight, but not true love. My husband and I didn’t even like each other at first meeting…and 20 years later….love is continuing to bloom
Are vampires real? Only in a scary dream once in a while.
Does pushing the elevator button more than once make it arrive faster? Oh, heck yeah, I mean I grew up in New York
Where you named after anyone? Not a person but the old capitol of Ireland- my Dad was Irish and my (Italian) mom thought of my name and thought my Dad would like it.
What is the first thing you notice about people? Their eyes
What is on your mouse pad? Dirt….and coffee stains, a Santa Claus candy wrapper.
Favorites…..
Favorite number? Call me numerically challenged. Numbers freak me out really, so I don’t have one.
Favorite flower? Jasmin- the strong scent makes me swoon with happiness
Favorite color? Scarlet because it is so vibrant and pertains to life (blood) and passion
Favorite Smells? Coffee, roses, my husbands neck
Favorite food? ... What, only one? Is chocolate a food?
Favorite etsy shop? there are so many fantastic shops and there are different shops for different things like the ones that I actually buy from and the ones that I would love to buy from but can't afford. Groundwork shop is really great, her work is amazing. I love Poodlebreath and Pogoshop, Attiladesigns, VintageConfections, Plainspirit, and Madebysam.......Oh, so many more! It is really incredible how many quality shops there are on Etsy.
Favorite memory? When I was little I would Catch lightening bugs and put them in jars on warm summer evenings...then I would draw on the sidewalk with them
5 comments:
Wonderful feature! I'm happy to know better this great artist! :)
So nice to learn more about you, Tarra! I look forward to getting to know you more in the future!
I love Tarra's work and it's so great to learn more about her. I love the armadillo! Thanks for posting these.
these features are a great way to meet the team members and know them more closely- thanks to Mamachee (Tara with one "R") for putting in so much effort to do this!
Cheers and Happy New Year to everyone, I look forward to reading other members features during 2010.
Thanks for sharing Tarra, Your work shows the love you feel for it.
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