"To successfully capture the wonder
and excitement of nature and life
through one's art,
is the fulfillment of one's destiny."
Tanya Trinkaus Glass
Always interested in many media, Tanya Trinkaus Glass developed into a multi/mixed-media artist. The artistic style emanates from realism but leans toward impressionism and abstraction. The energy of movement shows up in the loose drawings and spontaneous expression in all media. Experimenting very freely has led to discoveries, which enhance the work, and often lead to the creation of more complex, energetic and exciting art.
Throughout the years, she has painted nature – flowers, woods, beaches, marshes, palms and trees, and other aspects of the immediate environment – always trying to capture the feelings of peace, harmony, rhythm, and often excitement, which are absorbed from the experience. Creating mystery through layering, removing, and more layering is intriguing. Depending on the goal, many media are utilized, including oil and pastel (often en plein air), watercolor, acrylic, and collage. These are most often combined. Repeated experimentation has always been a large part of this artist’s modus operandi, even early on when creating collage or sewing as a child. “Crazy quilts are awesome!”
Lately, Glass' art is pushing toward more colorful, and less realistic - without being abstract. She is sketching much more these days, trying to work out new compositions or a different focus or style - there are so many options, but which is best for this artist? Often she first draws or paints a subject in pastel or charcoal, and then may do another version in oil, often larger. She is pushing to evolve into a new, more true style for herself as an artist, which, interestingly enough, has shown up now and then over the years, but the artist didn't stick with that style. So, it was "in there", always! Tanya is continuing to evolve as an artist, even after many years of painting. It's quite exciting.
Because texture and color have always been the main focus and interest, inspiration has been drawn from Van Gogh’s oils, Jasper Johns’ art, Robert Rauschenberg’s bold textural abstract collages, Richard Diebenkorn’s abstraction and structure, Odilion Redon’s layering and varying textures he used in his pastels, and contemporary artists. Even as a child during museum visits, there was always a search for how another artist created his or her work, and that search and intrigue continue to this day. There is always a new technique, a new approach or a new question, which might inspire the creation of another artwork.
Glass grew up in Stony Creek, Connecticut and Woods Hole, Massachusetts, lived in Rhode Island, and Florida, painting life around her. She has studied at the University of Wisconsin, the Maryland Institute Collage of Art (majoring in Fashion Design), the University of Rhode Island (BS in Art History and Masters of Library Science), the Newport Art Museum, the Providence Art Club, Art New England, Maine Coast Art Workshops, Hudson River Valley Art Workshops, Center for the Arts of Bonita Springs, Naples Art Association, Ghost Ranch, NM, and other national, international and local institutions or art groups. Glass' artwork has been exhibited in galleries in New Hampshire, Naples, Florida and around Rhode Island, and online exhibits like the International Association of Pastel Societies, Red Rock Pastel Society, and Southwest Florida Pastel Society's online juried shows. Her work is in collections nationwide and has earned many awards. She enjoys artist membership in the Arts Bonita, Red Rock Pastel Society of Nevada, and the Southwest Florida Pastel Society. Formerly she was a member of several Rhode Island art groups and was a cooperative member of the Sunapee Area Artists Association (N.H.) and the Spring Bull Studio in Newport (R.I.).
"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
......
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
Robert Frost. "The Road Not Taken."