General Meeting - Wednesday January 15, 2025 6-8pm
Updated: 2 days ago
Happy New Year Camas! Let's Art!
We are so excited to announce guild meetings will now be every third Wednesday of the month, at the Camas Public Library, second floor meeting room. 625 NE 4th Ave, Camas
Join us for a lovely evening of art chat covering upcoming events and a presentation from our featured guest. You don't need to be a member to check out our group - come see what its all about! This month, we're welcoming Tamara Dinius of https://www.womenwineandwords.com/.
Tamara Dinius - Women, Wine, and Words
By Blythe Ayne
It's easy to picture Tammy in a peasant skirt, boots, and blonde hair swinging, as she describes herself in the past when first attending the University of Washington taking art and creative writing classes, given her present youthful demeanor and contagious joie de vivre.
She was determined, she says, to become an artist and writer. She took life drawing classes, pottery classes, and writing workshops.
Inspiration
Tammy is inspired by bright, intense, and rich colors, and drawn to the textures of paints, molding paste, sand, and other textured materials, preferring to paint with her fingers. The textures themselves create shadows and highlights, adding dimension to her work.
Words are equally important to her creations. It is meaningful to her when her work is shared and inspires others. She finds inspiration in women who have found success without compromising who they are. She wisely notes, “(Women) often times worry more about being liked than we do about liking what we do.”
She further observes that in the arts community women with a strong point of view work to quiet their inner critic, and let their creative soul emerge.
Artistic Process
Tamara starts her paintings using graphite, charcoal and water soluble crayons to create script and marks. She then adds watered-down watercolors that cause the colors to run into one another creating shapes and patterns, which she continues for two or three layers.
When the water colors are completely dry she adds acrylic paint and textural mediums, and will, by completion, have as many as 20 layers of marks, watercolors, acrylic paint, and textural mediums in the art piece.
She is fascinated by the mind-body connection during the act of creating. As she works, messages sometimes present themselves as a humorous or meaningful comment which she may embed in the work’s layers.
Artistic Success
When Tammy began to seriously pursue her arts career, her first sayings reflected her new-found freedom. In 2014, she’d launched Women, Wine, and Words – Art that Says Something, soon selling her art across the Pacific Northwest through nine sales reps.
A couple of her favorite and best selling quotes from that time, are:
“She chose freedom and never looked back.”
“She learned to fly, so she started wearing her wings everywhere she went.”
Artisans’ Guild of Camas
Tammy joined Artisans’ Guild of Camas in the beginning when Angela Swanson (who sadly passed away in 2023) asked her to serve as treasurer. Deborah Nagano, India Delanda, Tony McCarty, and Angela were among the founding artists.
“The Guild,” Tammy said, “is an incredible resource for everyone, whether you're new to art, an experienced artist, a hobbyist, or someone who simply enjoys being part of an art community. I love how inclusive it is.
“I was fortunate to find financial success early in my art career and genuinely enjoy sharing my knowledge with others, hoping they can also profit from their creativity. Being a part of this community is deeply fulfilling.
“Camas and Washougal have a thriving artisan community with a strong appreciation for the arts, beautifully showcased in the Washougal Studio Artists’ Tours.”
A Note of Levity
Tammy notes that among the things she doesn't like are her toes, while at the same time one of her favorite things is going barefoot. Hmm, artistic conflict … perhaps presenting an opportunity for her inner critic to become contemplative enjoying her lovely toes!
Tammy will be the featured speaker at the Artisans’ Guild of Camas first 2025 meeting:
Wednesday, January 15 at 6:00 pm
Camas Public Library
625 NE 4th Ave.
Camas, WA
Questions, Comments?
Please drop us a note on our contact page.
Don't miss out
We would love to see you at the first meeting of the year January 15th. Don't miss out on the fun of this local inspiring group of artists.
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