Painting is almost always a meditation for me of some kind or another. When I am lucky, working feels as though I step on a river of semi consciousness, down and far away from lucid thought. In those fortunate moments the creating is so fluid that what comes out on canvas seems like the result of an unspoken conversation coming from some other energy source. Often it does not seem as though I am the true author, I am just a conduit.
— Tarra Lyons
“If I create a painting and consider it “successful”, that means the object represents of an inner moment on an external surface. An object like this can represent feeling, atmosphere and memory through use of color, design, texture, and symbols that have deep meaning for me. For me, paintings have never been about social commentary, or flashy statements or an overly descriptive exercise in realism for its own sake. Complete paintings are expressions of personal history and internal thought and feeling with a hope of creating symbolic language that is descriptive of interior life.
— Tarra Lyons
Sing, Oil on Beechwood Panel, 2020
Untitled (Clouds), 8x10", 2012
Bird, Flying, Oil on Linen, 2019
Mushrooms, Oil on Board, 2019
Boon-Boon, Dreaming, Oil on Linen, 22x25", 2019
Pleasure, Gouache on Paper, 8x8", 2019
Bouquet, Oil on Linen, 26x24" 2019
Untitled, (Floral) Acrylic and Gouache on paper
Daisy Chain, Encaustic on Linen, 2019
Tarra Lyons is a painter living and working in Northern California
Currently a Professor of Art at Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill, CA
About:
Teaching :
Jan. 1999-Present Professor of
Art Faculty, Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill CA
1991-1992 Life Drawing Instructor, California College of Art, Extended Ed. Oakland, CA
2002-2003 Drawing Instructor, California State Summer School for the Arts at California Institute for the Arts, Valencia, CA
For more information Contact: (925)878-1044
Email: tarralyons@hotmail.com
Education :
M.F.A. 1991 Painting/Drawing, California College of Art, San Francisco/ Oakland, CA
B.F.A. 1986 Painting/Drawing, Boston University, Boston, MA
Selected Exhibitions :
Flora and Fauna, Jen Tough Gallery, Benicia, CA
Small Works, Jennifer Perlmutter Gallery, Lafayette, CA
One Person Exhibition, San Fransisco Museum of Modern Art Cafe, San Francisco, CA
Bestiaries, Oakland Art Gallery, curated by Anna Vaughn, Oakland, CA “Two Person Exhibit”, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA
Firecrackers, Roshambo Winery, Curated by Chandra Cerrito, Napa, CA
Exhibition, Oakland Art Gallery, curated by Anna Vaughn, Oakland, CA
Two Person Exhibit, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA
Contemporary Perspectives, Museum of ContemporaryArt at Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa, CA Francisco, CA
No Big Heads, University of Alaska, Anchorage, AK
Holiday Show, Two-XL Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Faculty Exhibition”, Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill CA
Group Show, Soho-Myriad Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Fresh, 525 Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
It’s A Dog’s Life, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA
Mostra 99 Works on Paper, Museo Italo Americano, San Francisco, CA
Small Works, The Sequel”, Susan Cummings Gallery, Mill Valley, CA “Fever Dreams”, Belcher Street Studios, San Francisco, CA
Bug Collection”, Palo Alto Cultural Center, Palo Alto, CA
Mood Swings”, Bucheon Gallery, San Francisco, CA,
Obsession, Southern Exposure Gallery, Juror: Gary Garrels, Curator of Painting And Sculpture, SFMOMA, San Francisco, CA
Three Person Show, SFMOMA Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Miniatures, SFMOMA Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Delirium, OPTS Art, San Francisco, CA
Miniatures, SFMOMA Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Trees, Bachelier-Cardonsky Gallery, Kent, CT
Garden of Earthly Delights, OPTS Art, SF, CA
California Small Works, California Museum of Art, Santa Rosa, CA
Art Auction, Harcourts Modern and Contemporary, San Francisco, CA
Art Against The Tide Nexus Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia
Two Group Shows”, Orphanos Gallery, Boston, MA
Small Works, Ward-Nasse Gallery, New York., NY
Fall Beginnings, Ward-Nasse Gallery, New York., NY
Honors and Awards :
Best in Show, Cash Award, Artist Alliance of California, Jurors; David Bonetti, Catherine Clark, Peter Frank
Finalist, SF Woman’s Artists Emerging Artist Competition, SF, CA Fellowship/Residency, Vermont Studio School, Johnson, Vermont
Best in Show, Cash Award, George Sherman Union Gallery, Boston MA
Founding member Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA
Collections:
Ritz-Carleton, Dubai, United Arab Emirates Ritz-Carleton, Dallas, Texas
Netscape, Mountain View, CA
Saks Fifth Ave, New York, New York
Burns Fine Art, New York, New York
Signe Mayfield, Curator Palo Alto Cultural Center, Palo Alto, CA
Metropolitan Museum of the City of New York, Children’s Library
Bibliography:
East Bay Express, Critics Choice, “Bestiaries”, De Witt Cheng
East Bay Express, “21st Century Innocence”, Nate Seltenrich, Sun. Nov. 26, 2006
Contemporary Arts Quarterly, Vol.1, “Free Fall, Painting in the 00’s”, Fall 2005
New American Paintings, Vol. 25, Dec. 1999, Juror: Lowery Sims
East Bay Express, “Visual Art, As We See It”, Vol.22, Lin Fischer, Dec. 1999
San Jose Mercury News, “An Artful Look at Insects”, Chiori Santiago, May 1996
San Mateo Times, “Bug Out”, Jolene Thym, May 1996
Artweek, “An Exposed Historicism”, Randall Davis, Dec. 1994
SF Bay Guardian, Critiques Choice, “Wet Paint 2”, Harry Roche, 1992 ArtSpeak, “Surfaces That Effect Color, Form, and Content”, Vol.IX, No.3, October 1, 1987, J. Taylor Basker,
Elsewhere:
Galleriste: www.art-a-porter.com/tarra.lyons
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Tarra-Lyons-Paintings-107523297678647
New American Paintings: Pacific Coast #25 Jan. 2000: https://www.newamericanpaintings.com/issues/25
Soho-Myriad Gallery, New York, London: Paris www.soho-myriad.com
NextMonet.com: www.nextmonet.com