Artist Statement

I’m happiest near - or preferably in - the sea, where I swim as often as I can. I immerse myself in the multi-sensory experience of it, taking photos underwater, looking and feeling into the abundance of life above and below the waves. Back in the studio, I weave together elements from the photos, memories, and gathered seaweed, to distill those experiences into paintings.

Liquid, dynamic paint layers of varying consistencies are combined with fleeting, but more carefully drawn or carved glimpses of recognisable elements of aquatic life, from the birds overhead to the seaweed below.

I challenge myself to create something unexpected in each painting, something that prompts a second look; I work until every piece expresses what feels like a truth about the pleasures and surprises of immersion in wild nature.

  • Selected Exhibitions

    The Autumn Collection, Mylo Art, Hampshire, 23 October - 2024

    Imagine Falmouth 2024, Falmouth Art Gallery, Cornwall, 12 October 24 - 18 January 2025

    Hidden Depths, The Byre Gallery, Cornwall, 7 August - 7 September 2024

    Driven to Abstraction, Prime Women Artists, The Gallery, Truro High School for Girls, 12 - 22 March 2024

    Open 24, The Old Lock Up Gallery, Derbyshire, 10 February - 3 March 2024

    Small Works Winter Show, Spring Cheltenham, 8 - 23 December 2023

    Good on Paper, The Byre Gallery, Cornwall, 17 November 2023 - 28 January 2024

    Opening exhibition at Meadow x Mylo, Mylo Art, Hampshire, June 2023

    Spring Show, The Art Buyer, 4 March - 1 April 2023

    Winter At the Byre, The Byre Gallery, 19 November - 8 January 2022-3

    Sea Level, The Byre Gallery, 2 - 29 July 2022

    The Wild Collective, Thrown Contemporary, London, 13 - 29 May 2022

    Art of Water VI, James May Gallery, Artsy, 6 May - 29 July 2022

    Flora And Fauna, The Art Buyer, Thames Ditton, 16 March - 22 April 2022

    Winter at the Byre, The Byre Gallery, Cornwall, 27 November 2021 - 9 January 2022

    Winter Exhibition, The Art Buyer, Thames Ditton, 17 November - 22 December 2021

    Autumn Exhibition, The Hadfield Gallery, 6 - 28 November 2021

    The Best of Both Worlds, The Byre Gallery, 24 July - 12 September 2021

    Exhibition in support of Cornwall Air Ambulance, Art Gallery SW, 16 July - 31 December 2021

    (Nature in) Lockdown, Floresta, 4 June - 2 July 2021

    New Era: Part 1, Art Number 23, 31 March - 28 April 2021

    Spring Show, The Art Buyer, 10 - 31 March 2021

    Open ISO, The Old Lock Up Gallery, March 7 - 21, 2021

    ‘Disrupting the Stillness’, The Visionary Projects, November 16 - December 16, 2020

    Cornwall Open Studios, August 29 - September 6, 2020

    Associates Summer Exhibition, Penwith Gallery, St Ives, July - August 2020

    ‘A Beautiful Room’, Circa 21 - The Gallery Space, Penzance, July - October 2020

    Coast, Hadfield Gallery, Cotswolds, May 18 - June 14 2020

    Open ISO, The Old Lock Up Gallery, May - June 2020

    Winter Exhibition, Hadfield Gallery, Cotswolds, February 15 - March 1st 2020

    Tin Coast Design, Penzance, August 2019 {ongoing}

    Associates Summer Exhibition, Penwith Gallery, St Ives, July - August 2019

    Spring Exhibition, St Ives Society of Artists, May 2019

    Lizard Art Fair, Trelowarren, April 2019

    Porthmeor Programme Group Show, Penwith Gallery, St Ives, March 2019

    Out of the Blue Gallery, Marazion, June - September 2018

    The Toll House Gallery, Lindfield, 2012

    JAG Gallery, Brighton, 2011

    Open Houses in Brighton and Hove, 2010 - 2011

     

  • Press

     

    Podcast Interviews


    Associations

     

    Competitions and Awards

    • Finalist in the British Contemporary Art Awards 2024
    • Longlisted for the Visual Art Open 2022

     

    Education

    • Porthmeor Programme at St Ives School of Painting 2018-19
    • Ongoing independent study 2008 - 2018
    • Blake College, London, Foundation Diploma 2000
    • Charles H. Cecil Studios, Florence, Italy 1997

     

    Teaching

    • Online at taraleaver.com since 2013