Passion For The Portrait: Tara Deetscreek

The Artist in her studio

The Internet is a magical place at times. I enjoy connecting with people online and thoroughly enjoy the positive social networking side of the Internet. I love Instagram and sharing images. I had the pleasure of connecting with an artist recently who's gift's I would like to share with you.

It was this image that I shared which sparked some inspiration for Tara.

She transformed this 1950's Dior model into the ultimate shoe maven Sarah Jessica Parker and surrounded her with various SJP Collection Styles

Tara Says, "My love for art began at a young age.  I started to draw everything in sight around the age of 8 and my obsession continued through adulthood.  I ended up pursuing an art studio degree and graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree with my focuses being in drawing and ceramics.  I have always worked in 2D and 3D, loving different qualities about both.  It has always been a struggle trying to keep art a priority alongside being a wife and mother, and with different seasons I have focused on different mediums with varying degrees of time commitments.  

Since graduating about 15 years ago, I have done everything from murals, to pottery shows, to custom work. After raising my 4 boys and keeping my art career more on the side lines and being a mother in the forefront, I decided in 2014 that it was time to let art take more of a priority in my life than in past years.  This meant deciding to look at it more like a job and committing to work every day creating in my studio and searching for my personal voice as an artist.  It has been an exciting year for me, because even though I have created my whole life, I feel as though this year I have become an "emerging artist" in my own sense of the word.  

I looked within and searched within myself for the things that were always there.  I looked to inspirational artists, Bo Bartlett, Frida Kahlo, Alphonse Mucha, and Gustav Klimt, to name a few. I have always been inclined to draw people and love capturing a feeling, mood, or characteristic about a person.  Telling people's stories through portraiture is my passion.  Nothing excites me/ terrifies me more than creating someones likeness, and if I can capture something more about the person I am painting or make them feel beautiful through my work then its even better.  I have always been kind of a dreamer and my work tends to have a strain of fantasy in it.  Fabric and pattern have also been influential in my work, as have nature and everything vintage.  

Self Portrait

As I searched for my voice, I also searched for the perfect medium.  Drawing with pencil and painting with watercolor have been my mediums of choice, but I was frustrated at the size limit of a sheet of paper.  I found the perfect mixed media for me which is working on canvas with fluid acrylics (which act as watercolor) combined with colored pencils. I feel like after finding this medium combination I have been able to develop my work and have some consistency which is so exciting. I'm looking forward to seeing my work continue to develop and to learn people's stories along the way!"

When the UPS delivery man knocked on my door on Friday imagine my surprise to receive the most AMAZING portrait from Tara.

 She even gave me a peek at her process

I feel so honored that she used her time and talents to create this portrait for me. In the image I was in the Hearst Castle gardens of hydrangeas wearing a headdress from The House of Kat Swank. I love this moment and am truly thrilled it is now captured forever. The addition of the peacock feather is perfect for me too and I truly adore every element of this piece. It will proudly be displayed on my living rooms magenta accent wall.

Thank You Tara! 

Commission your own unique piece for your home or as a gift from Tara!

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Selfie-Absorbed: No Shame In My Game

 Top: Vincent Vangogh, Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun

Bottom: Andy Warhol, Frida Kahlo

I laugh when I read articles about "studies" that suggest people who take "selfies" AKA Photos of themselves are narcissistic and exhibit psychopathic characteristic like lacking empathy. See an example of such an article here, recently published by the Huffington Post. 

It is a sign of our times and another form of self expression to me. It is not to blame on the narcissists of the world or on the iPhone either. I remember taking "selfies" with friends on a camera with film long before the Iphone when there was not another person available to take our photo. I don't feel that it is narcissistic to want to capture moments with our friends and family or those we experience ourselves. If selfies are "selfish" why not question any image taken with you in it? that family photo from last Christmas, you dare not display unless you are behind the camera. Give me a fucking break! People have WAY too much time on their hands to criticize, I have very little time so snapping a selfie is a perfect photographic solution for me. 

Selfie's are this generation's lazy alternative to the self portrait. It is so quick and easy to snap a selfie when there is no alternative photographer to take the picture or a great way of sharing YOU, your outfit, makeup, location, friends, experiences and the like. The art of portraiture and documentation of life have been part of our cultural landscape since the Ancient Egyptians but self-portraiture a more recognized genre in Renaissance Times (15th century). According ti Wiki, Portrait of a Man in a Turban by Jan van Eyck of 1433 may well be the earliest known panel self-portrait.

Israhel van Meckenem, Self-portrait and Wife, an engraving

Germany, signed, around AD 1490

Selfie of my Daughter and I - 2014.

One of my personal favorite self-portrait artists, Frida Kahlo spent the majority of her life painting images of herself that continue to delight today.

 The Two Fridas/Los Dos Fridas 1939. Oil on canvas 67" x 67".

The Three Fab's /Los Tres Fab - Friend Selfie. 2015. Iphone. 

Recently there was an entire movement of women taking 'selfies' and nominating others to do so sans makeup to make a statement of solidarity against cancer and to raise awareness for breast cancer. Lacking empathy? self absorbed? I think not.

Thanks to the makeup maven and cultural chameleon Rose Shock for this post yesterday:

"For some reason there are plenty of people who think selfies are self-absorbed and look down on people who post a lot of pictures of their face. It's stupid, because we all should proudly post selfies and never be ashamed to do so! Think your hair looks good today? Post a selfie! Think your eyeliner is on point? Take a selfie! Nailed your outfit today? Take a selfie! Having a good time with your friends? Take a selfie together! I personally love faces. All kinds! I love seeing all amazing people here sharing their style with the world and also giving inspiration by posting their pictures. Need inspiration? Just open Instagram! Feel like nothing looks good on you? Well look at that fine as fuck selfie you took last week and realize you are amazing!  ‪#‎selfiecelebration‬

COMMENT HERE BY POSTING A SELFIE! LET'S HAVE A SELFIE PARTY!!"

Of course I RSVP'ed with a recent selfie moment. Thanks Rose Shock for reminding me to show my face!

Rose Shock

Why NOT snap a digital self portrait and celebrate yourself? You don't want to be regarded as selfie-absorbed? then don't do it, just don't judge others for taking a snap. We all should be seen in what we deem the best light possible and against the standard that we alone set for ourselves, society at large be damned. Having a GOOD self concept, caring for yourself and wanting to express and share your life does not make you a narcissist, psychopath, self absorbed or selfish.  Carry on with your fab selfies and be sure to SHARE!

There is NO SHAME in my selfie game. 

You get the picture ....

and I even SHOEfie ...

Wearing SJP "Daphne" & "Fawn"

What say you on the Selfie? Are you as Selfie-Absorbed as me?