Tawna Allred is a passionate artist and interior designer who is on a mission to help others rediscover their creativity, overcome resistance, and nurture a healthy art practice. Tawna expresses herself via many artistic disciplines. She has been a professional artist for over 30 years, runs her own interior design firm, and is a budding photographer. Her work celebrates the simple and the ordinary in things. She hopes to encourage other artist to witness the beauty in the mundane and experience the quiet joy of everyday living.
In Her Own Words…
My own creative journey has not been an easy one.
I was born into a farming family near the Idaho/Wyoming border. For reasons still unknown to me, I decided to teach myself to draw in grade school by sketching different horse breeds out of an encyclopedia. My skills progressed rapidly, and eventually I went to college on an art scholarship.
By the time I graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in oil painting, I had started a little family. My love for my family was deep and all consuming. I began to neglect my art and own dreams while I made room for theirs. Before I understood what was happening, I was battling depression.
The only thing that seemed like a good idea during this time was to return to school. I made the choice to study interior design. Four years later, I was a nationally certified interior designer. I wasn’t painting much, but I was taking steps to recover my artist passions. I was allowing myself to dream again. As I dug in, doing the hard soul work, art made its way back into my life.
I finally gave my art the commitment it deserved after a decade of doing only interior design. I committed to painting daily for a full year and I found my art patiently waiting for me. I discovered what I wanted to say on its behalf. This website is an accumulation of my struggles and triumphs coming together for a greater good.
Transform
I offer online art classes.
My goal is to teach as many people as I can the lessons I’ve learned about the importance of contributing creative work to the world. I do this by focusing on the act of finishing a painting. This is done deliberately. Finishing a painting puts people into the frame of mind needed to nurture a healthy art practice. Each lesson I teach contains within it the principles of art (the how) as well as life lessons and stories (the why) people need to create.
The lessons do not need to be taken in order, although it does help. Take an introspective moment with yourself and ask if you’d like to learn more about the craft of creativity.
Collaborate
Interior design work has been one of the biggest blessings of my life. It has helped me join forces with some of the best interior designers and clients in the country. Because of this, I have had the opportunity to do a mix of both design and custom artwork.
Do you have something you care about that you’d like commemorated with art?
If so, please feel free to contact me.
Shop
I have many ready-to-go art pieces waiting for their forever homes. Grab your favorite art piece before it is gone!