Tara Funk Grim Oil / Watercolor

My life as a passionate artist is an adventure.
The adventure has already taken me to many places.
I am not alone because of the support of my patrons.

Patrons have taken the time to recognize the final images from my brush, and my unquenchable spirit of exploration.

I take courage from the recognition: I take more journeys and I have more dreams.

An artist, who has the courage to step into a small boat when the water is rough, fears being capsized.

An artist, who enters the woods despite the dark forest, fears losing the light.

So far I have not capsized and I have found the light over and over and over.

Think of me as a map maker, as an explorer who goes on journeys and comes back and fills out the portions of the map that have never before been detailed.
I am a modern day visionary who completes the map and records the moments of "ah ha". If sometimes you look at my artwork and are challenged you are feeling much of what I also feel. The truth is that while I paint I also hear a very fast paced music that only plays inside my soul. Sometimes the music marginalizes me and I cannot complete the image. When the spirit of the image absorbs the music then I can complete the painting.

I love to paint in plein air.
My paintings feel like they take forever.

Brief Autobiography
I grew up with the New Jersey boardwalks of Atlantic City, Ocean City, and Wildwood in my backyard and began my art career painting seasonal themes on boardwalk store windows. I received a B.A. from Chestnut Hill College and teacher certification from Kutztown University. I am a signature member of the Pennsylvania Watercolor Society and continue to participate in many solo and group exhibitions. I love teaching. I blend my love of travel and teaching by conducting workshops to France, Italy, Ireland, England, and Switzerland and also teach in my studio in Bethany.

Instead of listening to the voices in my mind that have always helped me handle the technique of painting, I am listening to the voices in my heart. Nothing is predictable any longer. I rely on what I know about painting and my heart is leading me to develop images that I never thought would see the light of day. They are the images that have always been inside yet unfinished. When I see these images on the easel and on my display, I know I painted them but I am not sure how.

Artist Statement
Tara Funk Grim
Instead of listening to the voices in my mind that have always helped me handle the technique of painting, I am listening to the voices in my heart. Nothing is predictable any longer. I rely on what I know about painting and my heart is leading me to develop images that I never thought would see the light of day. They are the images that have always been inside yet unfinished. When I see these images on the easel and on my display, I know I painted them but I am not sure how.

Visit Tara's website at www.tarasstudio.com