Finding Tara…
Some paintings feel like they arrive from the inside out. This one, of Tara, came from that quieter place. It’s not about style or performance, but about looking inward.
When I paint people, there’s always a point of connection - one link that ties me to them. With Tara, that link came naturally. We’ve known each other for a few years now through United Artists of South Birmingham and the wider Kings Heath art community. Over time, these local creative circles have become richer for me, full of people who show up, share, and create. Tara’s been one of those people who keeps reappearing, and I’ve loved getting to know her.
We’ve worked together on projects like Art in the Heath and within the In Full Flow collective, and more recently we’ve been talking about collaborating on something bigger - a joint show next summer. I’m genuinely excited for that.
What I love about Tara is that she doesn’t mince her words. She’s funny, sharp, and says things as they are. No filters. I admire that about her because there’s a truth to it, an honesty that runs deep, both in her personality and her work. She’s someone who paints from her core, and I feel that because I do the same.
painting from the same place
Tara describes herself as “a contemporary artist painting otherworldly landscapes,” drawing on memory, connection and the sense of people who’ve gone before. There’s a shared thread there. Her way of painting to reconnect with people and places mirrors the way I paint to reconnect with myself.
We paint from the same place, just through different lenses. She reaches through landscape, I reach through portraiture. But it’s the same need - to find stillness, to find meaning, to find the self.
So when she asked about collaborating, it felt completely natural. I already knew we were aligned.
the weekend at nook
I painted this portrait of Tara during the second weekend of Birmingham Open Studios at • nook • gallery & studios. Russ was the first weekend; Tara was the second.
We spent that weekend together painting, talking, laughing. I had the photograph I was working from, but I also had her right there with me, which changed everything. It wasn’t just a painting session; it was time spent connecting.
Tara texted me later, when she was out walking the dogs, and said something that stuck - tête-à-tête, which means “head to head” in French. It made us both laugh, but it’s also strangely fitting. That’s exactly what it was: two artists, head to head, sharing space, energy and honesty.
Earlier in the year, we’d worked together on Paper, • nook •’s first anniversary exhibition. Our contribution was called As Mad as a Box of Frogs - a playful paper-based piece made from origami jumping frogs. We even made a little video for it. It still makes me laugh because it sums us up completely. We take our work seriously, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously. There’s a shared silliness that keeps it real.
Tara lives only a few roads away, and she’s become a really good friend. Some friendships arrive later in life and you think, where did this come from? But you know it’s meant to be. That’s how this feels.
an honest painting
This portrait isn’t stylised. It’s organic. It’s about truth and connection - real human stuff. The colours are earthy and natural: woody tones, deep Prussian blues, nothing forced. I wasn’t chasing style; I was chasing feeling.
There are lines running through the piece, drawn first with Sennelier oil sticks. They’re like ley lines, lifelines, connection lines. They link me to Tara, and us to each other. They also nod to the mortar between bricks in the wall behind her, that yellow thread that holds everything together.
In recent months I’ve started to explore backgrounds more intentionally, using them to tell a story in a different way. The Sennelier oil sticks have opened that up for me, allowing a looser, more instinctive language to come through. Here, those lines and dark tones carry their own quiet narrative, the way Tara’s paintings do - layered, intuitive, alive.
back to the lab
After the Open Studios weekend, I brought the painting home and worked on it alone for another six or seven hours. That’s when it really started to come alive, especially when I reached the eyes.
I often leave the eyes until the right moment. They’re not always the last thing I paint, but they’re the thing that pulls the person through. When I started painting Tara’s eyes, she was suddenly there in the room with me. It was uncanny. Someone at Open Studios had already said, “You’ve captured her eyes so well,” even though I hadn’t painted them yet. Maybe it was just something in the structure, or maybe they’d already sensed her there.
Those moments are hard to describe, but that’s the point where the connection happens - where you stop painting a likeness and start painting a person.
leaving it as it is
There are parts of this painting I could change. As an artist, you always see things you’d tweak or refine. But I’ve decided to leave it as it is.
Because that’s life, isn’t it? Imperfect, human, real. Once the energy of a moment passes, you can’t recreate it. You can only honour it.
So I’m leaving it for what it is, an honest portrait of Tara, painted from connection, friendship and shared understanding. And! Before I forget!! Go and check out Tara’s amazing pieces of work on her website and instagram, they are incredible! Tara Harris Art: https://www.taraharrisart.co.uk/ Instagram: tara_harris_art
Tara, 2024
Oil and oil stick on Fabriano Tela Oil paper
50cm x 65cm
Painted live during Birmingham Open Studios 2025 at • nook • gallery & studios
See Tara, 2025 in the Works section: