We recently connected with Tara Bach and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Tara thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
My creative journey and artistic expression has been an experiment with relearning how to play. As far as artistic abilities, I had the technical skills when it came to rendering images and objects into life, but I have always had this internal drive to excavate what’s beneath the surface of the things you see. Asking myself, how do I go deeper into my process in a way that can provoke a sense of feeling, through my creative work.
What I ultimately learned throughout this process, is that my creativity speaks to me in curiosity, a whisper that comes in the question, “I wonder what would happen if…” It’s become an essential part of my job to figure out how to get my thinking brain out of the way when it comes to making art. It’s a continuous process of pushing past my own limitations, while removing myself from the original concepts and ideas of the final outcome and allowing my creativity to do its thing. The sweet spot of the creative flow state happens when I surrender to the unfolding of the painting process as it develops along the way. It’s become just as much as a practice as the creating itself.
As far as speeding up the learning process, I don’t believe it works that way. The path of being a creative is making bread crumb discoveries and adapting them to your process along the way. Just as, I don’t look at my creative pursuit as it being a final destination, but an ongoing journey with the intention of making it as experiential and enjoyable as I possibly can.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
My name is Tara Bach, I am a 31 year old artist and mother of three from upstate NY, I grew up in a small town nestled right in the heart of the catskill mountains.
as a young girl I always wanted to be an artist, but it was never a realistic, or practical profession from my family’s point of veiw and to be honest the school systems do really nurture you. into thinking you can actually become anything you want. I spend my days creating, fantastical dreamscapes and celestial worlds. I love to bring into existence paintings that meet at the intersection of fantasy and reality. It’s in this place where I can lean into my passion for the wonder of the unknown, and feelings of magic. I then balance the Mystical nature of the work by grounded them in familiar elements. its in this in between space that reminds me that magical feeling is all around me in my daily life.
I use my creative process as a meditative/ cognitive reframing technique. It begins with a fluid intuitive process, that allows me to step out of my thinking and get into flow state. The elements I incorporate in my work revolve around light & Mystical elements. Most of my work has a luminous effect, giving them a life like wilily as they refract the lighting whit in their hanging space, like the glow of a tv or the natural lighting transitions that shine through the curtains throughout the day bring the iridescent and metallic elements to life. These qualities remind me of life and its ever-changing phases, holding on to the reminder that this too shall pass or that hopeful feeling of there is always light to be found.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
For me my favorite aspect of being an artist and creative is that there really is no limitations outside of my own way of thinking. The ability to bring things into existence with my hands, and share it with others, truly feels like magic to me. Along with that the opportunities for using my creativity when I don’t limit myself to a label of what “I do”. The more I have expanded my own preconceived ideas of what creativity or being an artist means to me, the more expansive I have become in and out of the studio. I always love experiencing the vast opportunities that this has been able to offer me, like working on various public art projects, music videos and instructing art classes.
How did you build your audience on social media?
I am a big supporter of social media, its been the most powerful tool when it comes to being able to share my work, and I honestly don’t think I would have the opportunities that I do if it wasn’t for the accessible platforms. It has been As a mother of three from a small townI have recognized over the years how just like any relationship it is important to understand what part it plays for yourself. as a visual artist, we are natural observers an observers of the world, being saturated in seeing what everyone else is doing can have its pitfalls. it can be easy to be swept up In where you want to be or where others are, and not realize you are on your own path that isn’t comparable. To remain inI love the co- creative experience that social media has been able to provide. As well as another creative outlet for expression myself as an artist. As a mother of three, I reconize that without the support of social media, I don’t think I would have reached any