Artists to Watch | Tara Will - Southwest Art Magazine

Creating visual conversations

Tara Will, Trout Lake, pastel, 24 x 32.

Tara Will used to describe herself as a homebody, but that changed dramatically when she attended her first plein-air event a decade ago. The outdoor experience was a revelation. “I hadn’t realized how much I love to travel and capture new places with my own perspective,” Will says.

: Tara Will, The Studio Door, pastel, 25 x 19.

: Tara Will, Zion, pastel, 25 x 19.

Today, painting on location still thrills the Maryland-based pastelist. This year Will plans to participate in eight plein-air events, chasing the light in destinations ranging from Cape Ann, MA, to Sonoma, CA. In fact, she says that capturing the light on a subject is far more interesting and inspiring than the subject itself.

Last July Will took home a Best of Show award from Maryland’s well-regarded Plein Air Easton event; it was the first time she had been juried into the competitive show. Her award-winning painting, TIME FOR REFLECTION, depicts two boats at a marina on Maryland’s Tilghman Island. The artist says that what caught her eye was the way the light created intriguing reflections as well as a sense of motion in the water. But she confesses that there is another reason she chose the subject, too: “When I saw one of the boats was named Big Will, I took it as sign,” she says. “I had to paint it. It had my name on it.”

: Tara Will, Telluride Aspens, pastel, 25 x 19.

: Tara Will, Morning in Kolob Canyon, pastel, 25 x 19.

: Tara Will, Molalla Reflections, pastel, 25 x 19.

TIME FOR REFLECTION showcases Will’s fondness for creating unusual shapes with splashes of bold color. When it comes to style, her artwork flows freely back and forth between realism and abstraction. Often she chooses to leave out the mundane details that, in her opinion, can make a scene less interesting.

Will considers each painting a dialogue between artist and viewer. Her artistic mission is to create a conversation so compelling that viewers want to take part in the dialogue. “As much as a painting is for the viewer, it is also for the painter,” she adds. “It is a process that informs, consoles, inspires, and completes me.” —Bonnie Gangelhoff