Start Fresh With Fall Reflections AT FORTY FIVE Magazine Issue 2021 05

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Using Art To Silence Spence: Tamara The Inner Critic SHERRY KALLERGIS /BY Tamara Spence's strong inner critic has been a force through her life spurring her on to find ways to silence it. She is a successful multi-media artist in Vancouver, Canada. This art form is a very process-driven experience that suits her well. She thrives on variety and this medium allows her to explore her emotions in physical and tactile ways.
AT FORTY FIVE MAGAZINE /11 Tamara began with black and white ink drawings, too intimidated to put color on the page. That inner critic battle stoked her progression as an artist. She added soft watercolors, then more colorful acrylics, and finally texture as Tamara learned to accept her creativity and allow her bold spirit to speak. Tamara shares her journey to becoming supportive of herself and her needs. (Note the following is paraphrased for length and flow) How did you get started painting? I've always been creative. My father was a professor of sculpting and an accomplished sculptor. He had a workshop at home and a studio. I would play there after school, and I enjoyed that. I took art classes through high school but I'm also very athletic and sports-driven with a passion for volleyball. That was my major in university. I played varsity but I was struggling with what to study. My mom suggested Sciences or Sports Science, so I went into nursing and then met my husband. Just before my dad died, in 1999 I decided to go back and do a year of Fine Arts where my father taught. It was the right place for me but the wrong time. I was overcome with grief. So, I went back to nursing, we had two children, and life kept rolling on. I was working in ER, ICU, and the Cardiac areas until I injured my back at work, and I was advised not to work anymore. I was struggling with grief, depression, and battling with the system on retraining. It was a difficult time. I was creating but I couldn't admit to being an artist. because that inner critic convinced me I wasn't good enough. As time went on and on and on, I kept getting sadder and sadder. Finally, I decided to try hypnosis. I went to a therapist, a wonderful woman named Liz Lange. I had a few treatments with her. When I was under hypnosis, I would spend it crying. I was even questioning the value, but things were starting to happen. I now understand I was letting go of a lot of grief. How did art change your direction? Soon after hypnosis, I was moved to draw as I mentioned earlier. That inner critic would tell me I was not good enough. It's not good enough. or that's not right. So, I would erase things and move on but then I noticed I was more willing to just let the creativity happen. If I made a line, it wouldn't immediately look wrong to me. Just little things like that. I was posting some of my art on social media where a former coworker, Ellen Bradley- Cheung saw them. She had used art to help herself and she invited me to join ROAM Gallery which is when I met Jen. That was my first show, I think it was three drawings. After that, it became easier to create, to push through the voice of that inner critic telling me I wasn't good enough, to believe in myself. I began realizing that variety, moving from thing to thing, was what I need to be happy, and we all need to be happy. What process do you use to begin to create a piece? I think it comes with a decision about the day. I'm going to do this painting and sometimes it gets underway, so I keep going. I call it my flow state. I can equate it to being an athlete. There's a feeling you get when you're playing a sport or you're doing your art, where you are
Page 1 and 2: S E P T E M B E R | I S S U E N O .
Page 3 and 4: C O N T R I B U T O R S 04 Sherry K
Page 5 and 6: C O N T E N T S 04 editor's notes 0
Page 7: AT FORTY FIVE MAGAZINE /07 It is cl
Page 12 and 13: Tamara Spence Fine Art North Cape L
Page 14 and 15: Tamara Spence Fine Art Sadness Ink
Page 16 and 17: MY KETO LIFESTYLE: A PERSONAL JOURN
Page 18 and 19: AT FORTY FIVE MAGAZINE /19 continui
Page 21 and 22: AT FORTY FIVE MAGAZINE /21 LOOK BEA
Page 24: The missing piece ADVERTISE HERE 60

Start Fresh With Fall Reflections AT FORTY FIVE Magazine Issue 2021 05

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?