Eyes and the depth of feeling that can be relayed by their shapes, shading and the subtle play of light have all been of particular interested to Tara since childhood. For her the eyes really are key to creating a portrait that tells a deeper story about the subject. Tara has also been interested in making portraits since her early teenage years. During her travels in India, from that time until present day, she has made many sketches of people that she saw who inspired interest and urged her to capture the moment in a way that no camera can do. These simple, informal sketches are some of her favourite portraits because they have preserved for her glimpses of precious moments and fascinating people.

Textures, textiles, patterns, surfaces and vibrant colours are all things that attract Tara’s eye when she is composing a portrait. She feels that often emphasis upon capturing a feeling of the moment is more important than absolute precision. She does not attempt to create a photographic replica and feels that textures and brush strokes can carry the atmosphere and mood of a moment in a way that a camera is inhibited. For example she will often spend a lot of time focusing upon the detail of an expression in the subjects eyes and significant characteristics and surroundings and yet will use free expressive brush/pen strokes to portray movement, light and atmosphere.

Tara has created a number of oil on canvas portraits for the Kangra Royal family in India. Most of these were made from old black and white photographs because the subjects had passed away long ago and their living relatives wished to have large oil portraits in remembrance them. Tara particularly enjoys working with oil paint because of the texture, vibrancy of colour, subtleties of skin tones and luminescence that can be achieved when using oil paints. She has often included other materials relevant to the subject such as in the case of the Indian portraits she included pulses and grains into the surface of the paint to make the texture of the fabrics and jewellery. She used these because they are so important in the Indian diet and way of life for Indians of every class. Tara likes to make her artwork a feast for the eyes and particularly enjoys taking advantage of the thick consistency of oil paint in order to recreate the rich textures and patterns of textiles. By scratching patterns and marks into the wet surface of thick paint she has achieved striking effects and created a unique style.

Tara experiments with a wide range of mediums including coffee, spices and natural vegetable and mineral pigments. She often selects particular materials that are relevant to the subject or ones that create a specific effect that highlights the mood of the portrait. She particularly likes to use coffee as a painting medium because of the warm, timeless monochrome tones and shades that it creates.

If you would like Tara Joy to create a portrait to help you to preserve memories of special moments, people, animals and/or places then contact her on the contact page to discuss your ideas. This page gives a glimpse of some of the portraits that she has created and her diversity of styles but it is just a sample of her work. She is very happy to work with your particular ideas in order to create the right portrait for you. Whether that is a life like portrait or one where the subject is blended into a fantastic setting surrounded by mythical beings Tara is ready for the challenge and to work with you to make your ideas visible.

Sketching people going about their ordinary and extraordinary activities is something that Tara really enjoys. She loves to capture a precious moment in time, a person or interaction between people. Life is full of so many wonders that each of us passes by everyday. Sometimes we notice them and they make us smile or cry. Other times we don’t even see them. Tara makes portraits of people that she sees along her travels in order to share some of these precious moments and to encourage people to look a bit closer next time. Through these portraits she shares some of the humour, diversity and depth of human emotion that she encounters along her travels.