A first-time participant in the Camano Studio Tour, Tasha Smith is a passionate collage artist and nature lover. Blending her love of nature and the outdoors with her training as an artist with a minor in Fine Art from Oregon State University, she shares that she feels most alive and connected in the natural world.
An avid backpacker and hiker since her early childhood, Tasha explains that she has always enjoyed slowing down to take in the beauty of nature.
“Nature has always been important to me,” Tasha said. “But it wasn’t until I began this new style of collage art, incorporating physical aspects of nature into my artwork, that I truly grew to appreciate just how important it is to me.”
Collecting flora and fauna, she often creates monoprints that are used in her pieces. Her artistic approach starts with an acrylic under-painting on a birch panel. Once satisfied with the image, she proceeds to rip and glue paper which has been painted and printed using acrylic paint to bring color, vibrancy, and longevity to the piece. The effect is an appearance of a colorful painting, that upon closer inspection reveals a painted paper collage.
Tasha moved to Camano Island in 2018 and in addition to spending time working in her studio, she is the busy mother of three daughters, ages 14, 12, and 9.
“It is such a joy to be a part of a community of artists on Camano Island,” Tasha said. “I’m humbled and inspired to be named this year’s cover artist and cannot wait to connect with visitors to the island in my first Studio Tour.”
Follow Tasha in the studio on Instagram @tasha.smith.art or online at tashasmithart.com