Nature
Taking a closer look:
Nature and art are inseparable. Nature creates the greatest, most exquisite works of art at both the microscopic and the macroscopic levels and through the ages this has inspired humanity to create beautiful art. In the modern world people often forget to really look closely, listen carefully, smell, taste, touch and feel the natural world around them. If they did, they would discover that nature is art in its truest form. Some artists are able to make art that reminds people to pay more attention to nature.
Fascinated and Inspired by Nature
Tara Joy has a great love for nature and is fascinated by the intricate, interdependent dynamics that link all life forms and earth systems. This fascination and her view that ‘the closer one looks, the more life and complexity one finds’ are often reflected in her art. Whether it is her portraits and landscapes or fantasy paintings, Tara’s art eludes to hidden depths just waiting to be discovered.
Fantasy Art for Conservation
Tara Joy’s fantasy art explores the worlds of dream and imagination and although it does not always have an overt message promoting environmental conservation, it aims to engage that child like side of the viewers subconscious and awaken greater interest, affinity with and love for nature.
Book and Illustrations to Inspire Conservation
Tara Joy’s has written and illustrated several books that explore environmental subjects and promoted environmental conservation and restoration. Her illustrations for these are generally bright and playful in an attempt to make the subject more appealing and approachable to a wider audience. Tara has a great appreciation for the emotive power of a good story and the fact that stories have been used for relaying important knowledge and information through the ages from one generation to the next.
The Inner Sense of Trees
Tara Joy’s book ‘The Inner sense of Trees’ came from years of her working for the promotion of environment conservation and restoration with Active Remedy Ltd. and her discovering that for many people the message can seem too complicated, uninteresting or even gloomy. Therefore Tara created ‘The Inner Sense of Tree’ in order to make the message more approachable for a wider audience, across a broad spectrum of ages and interests. She has received very good feedback from adults and children alike and it seems that it has touched many hearts, been enjoyed by whole families and gives a message of hope and possibility that inspires and encourages a way of living that is more in harmony with nature.
The Power of Words and Images to Inspire
Most of Tara’s more hard-hitting messages about the state of the environment and the role and responsibility of humanity in it all are expressed through the medium of words as poetry and song lyrics. However she often accompanies her poetry with illustrations. This combination of words and images can have a powerful impact. Here is an extract her poem ‘A Mother’s Tears for a Child’s Lost World’:
“I watched my mothers tears roll down her face today. She cried for the things of nature, so many stripped away.
Her eyes sparkled with the glint of a child’s dreams, rainforests that she’ll never visit, once proud people reduced to tears and screams.
And how can a heart comprehend that the hands that dealt these blows belonged to the human race blinded with hearts tightly closed?“
Love Nature and Embrace Being a Part of It
More than anything Tara Joy’s art brings with it a reminder for us all to celebrate the beauty and perfection within all of nature and to see that we are all interdependent, inseparable parts of it. Tara feels that it is very important for humanity to realise that we are not separate from nature and that this change of perspective will dramatically and positively impact upon the way that we approach other life forms, ecosystems and natural resources. This reminder of interconnectivity is a constant theme throughout all of her art.
