Artist, writer, dancer
I’m Tara
I’m a devotional artist integrating spirituality into all aspects of my work.
My creative practice is rooted in the deep consideration of beauty, love, and connection.
some details
about me
I am a Queer, Neurodiverse and Disabled artist and activist. With a wide-ranging thirst for knowledge, I have a background in Science and Law as well as the Arts. I love teaching and my subjects include Textiles, Illustration, Dance, Creativity and Spirituality.
I am currently researching the 17th Century Scottish Witch hunts with funding from Creative Scotland in order to develop a large community memorial project for the women who were accused of Witchcraft.
I live on the West Coast of Scotland with my cat Hecate, before which I spent a decade steeping in the cultural crucible of Brighton. As a white woman my native heritage is English, Irish, Cornish & Scottish, I also have Spanish-Basque cultural heritage.
what I’m good at
I am a fabricator
creating 3 dimensional forms from fabric, paper, and the land/nature/environment
I am a decorator
decorating surfaces with stitch, print and colour
I am an image maker
creating images with carbon, ink & paint, lens & body
I am a dancer
bringing spirit into motion and creating joyful bodies
I am a thinker
communicating through story, speech and the written word
I am a ritual maker
tending to the spiritual needs of myself, others and the land
I am a facilitator
facilitating creative process at all levels from beginners through to professional artists
I am a teacher
teaching technical skills in textiles, design & dance
I am a course maker
designing learning programs and collective community projects
my values
Treat yourself and other people with kindness, care and respect
In my own work I place Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at the heart of how I engage with people.
supported by
I have lived a life that only artists live
I was born in Cornwall and spent my childhood summers living in the sea, which was a blessed relief from the rest of the year, living an isolated life inland with my abusive, alcoholic parent. I escaped into adulthood, traumatised and unwell, until one day I wandered into a Buddhist meditation class at University.
It was an oasis in the desert and I plunged in whole heartedly. I spent over a decade living and working in Buddhist communities. It was an amazing spiritual education in a vibrant spiritual community that was connected, through monastic lineage, all the way back to the historical Buddha.
The Buddha said that nothing is permanent or substantial and everything is subject to decay, even his own spiritual community.
I left when it came to light that the founder of my Buddhist community had sexually assaulted teenagers and young men within that community. He is still honoured and revered by that Buddhist community today.
Whilst living in Buddhist communities in Cambridge, I started learning Bellydance, and what the Buddhist community lacked in terms of passion, sensuality and joy, Bellydance gave me in spades. My teacher, Pauline Sayhi, was an incredible woman, and she taught me to dance my own dance, express my own emotionality and embrace my own sexuality.
When I left Cambridge and the Buddhist community, I travelled around New Zealand trying to find myself again and establish my creative path. A vision of the Earth Goddess Papatuanuku sent me on my journey home again to England. That is where I needed to be to heal and to create, she said.
I settled in Ely, briefly, where a magical crystal shop opened. It was like a portal into another world.
I learned about Oracle cards & crystals. I learned Aromatherapy and massage. I went on a course in Shamanism called “Women’s Healing Ways”, and my spiritual world opened up again and I integrated these new magical ways into the discipline of my Buddhist practice. Revived, I set out on a new journey and moved to Brighton.
I was in my early 30’s when I arrived in Brighton in 2006. Brighton was on the up, and teeming with creative life and potential. I launched a new business teaching Bellydance and soaked myself in the cultural soup that Brighton has to offer. Whatever you want to learn, you can learn it in Brighton. I performed Bellydance in restaurants, weddings and shows. I ate well. I went to shows and clubs. I immersed myself in Lesbian culture. I had fancy dress picnics every year for my birthday and tourists would stop us for photographs.
But nothing is permanent
The recession came, and my dance business ebbed away. I found myself making artisan Shakespeare biscuits for the Globe Theatre. Relationships came and went, and my former partner died. My life in Brighton seemed to die along with her. I called upon my Spirit Guides for help, and they guided me to move to the West Coast of Scotland, where I settled in Craft Town Scotland. Here I have woven a new life on the warp threads of my spiritual and creative practices.
