Story of Tanis

I have always found Art to be very rewarding. To be able to recreate an image that you see or what you want the image to become is something that I have always strived for in my Art work. No matter what media I choose to use. The most satisfying thing that I have experienced is realizing that I have a gift for art and some Medias come very naturally to me. What an amazing feeling that is.

I first realized this in grade school when my grade 7 teacher, who liked art, had the class do projects often in class. I was a very shy kid in school and his encouragement meant a lot to me. He often asked me if he could keep some of my work. I would enter small in-school drawing contests and win them and not think any differently of things. It was fun for me to do.

Once I hit high school my world of art opened up and more challenges were at my finger tips. So I tried many different Medias and enjoyed most of them. My Senior High school was Esquimalt High in Victoria BC. The art program was geared towards entering a college program and wow life was just getting better for me there.  That is when I started to use clay. The teacher picked a handful of us students and taught us to use the wheel. I lived in the Art room my senior year of High school. I also won the Charles Osard highest artist achievement award for 1980. And a possible scholarship for college the next year.

The scholarship was to be used for school right away and I had family obligations that wouldn’t allow me to follow that path at the time. The expectation from family and society was for me to work and have a family, so I did. Not realizing that a very important part of who I am was not being allowed to flourish.

Once I hit my thirties I had an opportunity to go back to school and I entered the world of Visual Arts. Bam! The dam was busted. It was very hard work but the best two years of my life. I lived on student loans so I became a work study at the college. I then entered the world of clay.  Having access to the pottery studio as a work study, I was able to use it anytime I wanted to. That is where I spent many hours mixing glazes, clay, and throwing as often as I could. I had three summers working there. To my great enjoyment! I was even able to set up a small pottery room at home. My life was entering a new direction with a positive out look in the world of art. But things came crashing down and family matters required more of my time and energy. I became grand mother at 39 but life threw us a curve ball and we also became parents to our first grand child, after her first year of life. That was a time of huge changes and life altering priorities for myself. After that I could only do little bits here and there of my art. My darling little granddaughter was a very big hand full, but I adjusted eventually.

After a few years staying home I re-entered the work force part-time. With the encouragement of my husband I started watercolour painting lessons outside of the home. It was the perfect time for me to get back at doing more art again. For four years all I did was water colour and drawing. Still had my pottery stuff just not in use.

There have been more moments in the last couple of years of not doing much, but now I am able to create more again and have set up my pottery room and have been producing one of kind pieces for decorative uses only. Most of my paintings are in card form and I have been getting great results from people with them. I have entered another stage of my life where I can be creative again and want to keep on that up-swing momentum. My Grand Daughter is older and more independent and has the artistic streak in her as well.

I am a down to earth person, easy going, and love nature. I enjoy teaching others or showing them how I do things if they want to learn.

2021  Up date, The last 10yrs have been very busy and Pottery is my #1 artistic avenue at the moment. My small pottery room turned into my glazing room last year 2020 and I have a larger space that was the family room downstairs in our home and have set up my Pottery studio there.