Bryan’s background was multi-faceted: along with her MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she also earned a BA in Music Theory and Composition from the University of New Mexico; she received awards and grants for work on canvas, page, and screen. Still, she wrote: “Having drawn since I could hold a pencil, I took art classes even while I studied music in college. In the middle of working on an MFA in painting, I spent a year teaching English in China and studied Ink Painting and Calligraphy. I returned to my studies a landscape painter and haven’t looked back.

“I am drawn to light and subtle shifts of colour. The air in Newfoundland is tangible, softening and dispersing the light and making the landscape delicious and mysterious. Through distilling the coastline to its essential forms and colours I strive to represent the strength of its raw power and beauty. Since I first visited Newfoundland in 1989 I have been painting the coastline in oils, watercolour, and acrylics and making books about this intriguing place.” – Tara Bryan, 2006
(Works above: Evening, Swill Cove, oil on linen, 36×48, 2014, Not a Breath, oil on linen, 36×48, 2014; text and images courtesy Christina Parker Gallery)