Moving to Southern California in from Michigan to pursue a degree in art, Tara earned both her BFA and MFA from California State University, Long Beach School of Art, where she majored in Illustration. Working as a professional artist for over 25 years, she's invested much of her creative energy into several different projects, never settling into just 'one' path. Included in this is drawing, painting, mosaics of both small works to larger murals, painting murals for The Power of Words Project, mostly based in Michigan, photography and teaching courses at local community colleges in drawing, painting and design. She also has a YouTube channel (Tara Tavonatti Art), with tutorials on drawing and design.

 

For Tara, exploring many avenues of creativity is something she's always been drawn to, coming from a family of artists, who've also pursued several creative outlets, such as painting, crafts, jewelry making, woodworking and teaching. Over the years, she's learned to create whatever her heart guides her to, whether it's working with the figure or painting from nature, always learning and experimenting with new materials and techniques. Nature is the most important part of the creative process for her, and her more recent work reflects that with land and seascape oil paintings. Finding joy in the process of using brushes and palette knives to create the layered effects has been a journey of self exploration, a process she invites her viewers in to enjoy through social media.

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Travel has also become an important aspect in her career as an artist. With this and her love of fine art, Tara has had the opportunity to spend several summers painting in Italy and Greece, nourishing both passions. She's studied with various international painters in Florence, Italy, where her focus was on Renaissance artists, their work and lives.

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Tara's work has been shown in various group and solo exhibitions, and is mostly in private collections through commissions, including Pelican Hill Resort in Newport Beach, CA. She currently resides and works in Southern California.

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