Desert Skies No. 1 by Tamara Hastie

Tamara Hastie

Self-taught Tamara primarily uses oil paint applied with a palette knife on linen or cotton canvasses. She dabbles in mixed media, using color and texture to enhance the natural rugged beauty of the landscapes. She paints from photographs, memories, or directly from rapid watercolor or pen and ink sketches she’s completed when out in the field. She revisits these areas numerous times to see how the time of day and seasons shift the hues and alter the depth of the landscape. Further reflection of her art is that she believes: It is a language with visions that unify us, revealing our humanity. She adopted Flagstaff, located in Northern Arizona as her new home over twenty years ago to continue her life of adventure and exploration that these mountains and high desert plateaus have to offer. Backpacking, hiking and rock climbing in the vast landscape and wilderness continues to reveal unbelievable light, and continues to be a delight and the inspiration for capturing the vibrant, and textural color in her palette knife paintings. “To share these beautiful moments with others is one of the greatest and fulfilling benefits of all.”