Welcome to my blog! Visit my Website at WWW.ARTBYTANYATORRES.COM to see the galleries organized by theme.

Saturday, December 29, 2018

Spirits of the Forest

The idea for my Spirits of the Forest came out of an invitation to present my artwork at Fiesta de Flores at the New York Botanical Garden around 2014. I wanted to create pieces on tile that both represented my culture and the garden. 

A few years earlier, during a visit to my maternal grandmother in Guayanilla, Puerto Rico, I had begun drawing these beings that were part human and part nature, referring to an idea that has guided my work, expressed by a scientist on TV: "we are part of the earth, literally." 

These words (probably spoken a little different in a Discovery Channel documentary) have stayed with me for almost 2 decades and have guided my work. So I began to think of the Taínos, the original inhabitants of Puerto Rico, who are in me, according to my son and his DNA tests he has administered to many members of our extended family, in a proportion of about 10%. I though of their myths, their connection to the earth, and of El Yunque, that Sacred Mountain we still revere, and I started painting these beings.

Ever since then, my community has supported this style and loved it. And I keep painting this iconic face in different ways, with gratitude and love. 

These are a few of the Spirits of the Forest I have painted.. 


Spirit of the Forest: Miramelindas (2), by Tanya Torres


Spirit of the Forest by Tanya Torres

Spirit of the Forest by Tanya Torres
Framed Spirit of the Forest Tiles at Rosa Velazquez's home. 

Spirit of the Forest Acrylic on Canvas by Tanya Torres at Rosa Velazquez's home.

Spirit of the Forest: Garden, painting on canvas at Dr. Claudia Quiroz's office.

Framed tiles

Spirit of the Forest: Miramelindas by Tanya Torres. Art on tile, 6" x 8". 2018.
Spirit of the Forest: Garden by Tanya Torres and painting in progress at Tanya's Studio in Puerto Rico.

Spirit of the Forest: Garden by Tanya Torres. at La Casita de Ely, Taller Creativo, San Germán, Puerto Rico. A mini-exhibition during a workshop-interview with Zarina Ramírez, creative owner of La Casita de Ely.

Spirit of the Forest: Community by Tanya Torres. Art on tile, 6" x 8". 2018.

Spirit of the Forest: Muse by Tanya Torres. Art on tile, 6" x 8". 2018.

Spirit of the Forest: Sunflowers by Tanya Torres. Art on tile, 6" x 8". 2018.


Spirit of the Forest: Community (2)  by Tanya Torres. Art on tile, 6" x 8". 2018.

Spirit of the Forest: Community (3) by Tanya Torres. Art on tile, 6" x 8". 2018.
One of my Spirit of the Forest Scarves: see  my Vida Shop 

Spirit of the Forest: Leaf Heart by Tanya Torres , Acrylic on canvas, 2018.

Sunday, November 11, 2018

A Traveling Studio of the Imagination

The Dark Magdalene: Garden by Tanya Torres
2018
This extra long year began when Hurricane María caught me in Puerto Rico. Then, back in NYC, my family's life was turned upside down when we had to leave our apartment in a rush, due to the City requiring us to make some changes to the structure of our building. This year long (and ongoing) ordeal gave me an idea: to buy my father's house in Puerto Rico and set up my studio there. What began as a nightmare, turned into a dream come true, and I was able to recover and rethink my life and my structures while experiencing the peace of the place where I spent most of my childhood (not in that house, but in that land...)

But real life was calling, and while it was hard to leave my little house, I had to come back to New York to my commitments, to my husband and son, and to my mother in law, Ramona, who called me every Friday to tell me I was missed here. She was so kind and so subtle, that she convinced me to change my ticket to come in earlier than I had planned.


Old, falling apart, scary
Fortunately, I had enough time to do 2 things: finish rebuilding the kitchen in my little house, and recover inside. It was the best medicine a soul could get, to be surrounded by nature and good memories, with a place to do art with enough time and enough silence. My morning company were a next door horse and the chicken that laid an egg each day. But in the evenings I met my mother or my best friend Waldemar, or his friends who always seemed to have a birthday to celebrate. In the meantime, I wasn't thinking or being anxious about the future. I rested.

New, please concentrate
on the nice tiles and the pears in wine
and not in the mess...
When the time came to pack, I realized that whatever I put in my suitcase would become my studio. My studio, which at one time was one whole storefront, then a little room in the basement, and then, in a great aggressive move, the top apartment of my building: my favorite place in the house that has ruled over my life for the last 20 years. I say this without regrets, knowing that it has given me much. But when I lost that studio, I lost a part of me, and since 2014, my studio has traveled up and down my building, to Puerto Rico and back, and is now reduced to a small table and a few art bins in my mother in law's apartment. And still...

Yesterday I was able to paint 7 small paintings in that tiny space.

Because my studio is the Traveling Studio of the Imagination.

Miramelindas by Tanya Torres, 2018.
Acrylics, matte acrylics, Pearlescent inks, Sharpie.
It goes with me, inside, and no longer needs to be a wide physical space. It officially exists in my house in Puerto Rico, and I will be back one day soon, to be there and paint there. But while I'm HERE it travels with me, inside and outside, in a big suitcase full of:

1. Acrylic paints: with 8 colors of Utrecht Fluid Acrylics that I discovered recently and love so much because of the contrast they create with their matte finish against the FW Pearlescent Acrylic inks and Porcelain gold outliners that I love.
2. A total of 5 brushes for acrylics. I use watercolor brushes for everything. And I love the natural, high quality hair of top of the line brushes. I splurge in brushes.
3. About 25 acrylic ink jars.
4. A bunch of acrylic tubes, that I don't use a lot but like to have with me.
5. A big acid-free PVA glue.
6. An electric pencil sharpener and a set of pencils. Also a lot of Ebony pencils. And ballpoint pens and regular pencils. A set of Micron pens and some extra Micron pens in red and terra-cotta. And about 30 back Sharpies.
7. About 25 tubes of oil paint and about 20 brushes (that I can't use because ventilation in not so good where I am right now.)
8. Jewelry making tools and some supplies. I am trying to give up the addiction to jewelry making.
9. A sketch book (left the others in Puerto Rico)
10. About 20 canvases (most of them small)
11. Two plastic cups with water and a ceramic cup I stole from my mother in law's kitchen to use as brush holder. I left my moroccan cup in Puerto Rico because that's where I want it to belong...
12. A new portable lamp I bought because light here is soooo bad. I left my fancy lamp in Puerto Rico because it was kind of heavy and that's where I want to use it.
13. Metallic pigments and other miscellaneous stuff.
14. Yellow Saral transfer paper.
15. Wax paper.
16. Small folding table.
17. Art bin with tiles, student brushes, and a full workshop for The New York Botanical Garden this Friday. (Using Sharpies...)
18. About 25 jars of Porcelain tile paint. I use the same brushes as I use for acrylic painting.
19. Whenever I need something else, I order from Blick or take the bus to 125th street in Harlem and stop by the store. I love Blick. They are not paying me to say this! I love them because they ship to Puerto Rico at a very fair price. It is a problem getting things shipped to Puerto Rico and art supplies are hard to find there.
20. A trained and disciplined mind to work as soon as I sit down.

This is my Traveling Studio of the Imagination. It is a no-excuses, go-with-the-flow, start-where-you are kind of studio. And when I need real space and solitude: I will get on a plane and arrive where my roots remain planted.
How much do we really need?

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Interviews, Past and Present

The Love, Joy and Politics of Tanya Torre's Art by Ernesto Quiñónez
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08905762.2017.1341161

Las prodigiosas manos de Tanya Torres por Rosa Veláquez, Galería Rosángelus
http://rvelazquez21.wixsite.com/galeria-angelus/tanya-torres

Routes of the Black Madonna @ BMHC
http://www.mamboso.net/nuyorican/2018/05/21/routes-of-the-black-madonna-bmhc/

The Routes Of The Black Madonna
https://www.bxtimes.com/stories/2018/21/21-a-sbxrising-2018-05-25-bx.html

PLASTICA-CUBA: Miradas a la violencia
http://www.ipsnoticias.net/2007/07/plastica-cuba-miradas-a-la-violencia/

Interview (12 years ago)
http://remezcla.com/culture/tanya-torres/

East Harlem Artists Trail
Meet Tanya Torres
http://www.eastharlempresents.org/tanya-torres.html

September 3, 2010
SONG OF THE MAGDALENE CD RELEASE AND ART EXHIBIT
https://repeatingislands.com/2010/09/03/song-of-the-magdalene-cd-release-and-art-exhibit/

Canción de la Magdalena de gira en Puerto Rico
http://www.80grados.net/las-siete-salves-de-la-magdalena-de-gira-en-puerto-rico/

Thursday, June 07, 2018

Painting Your Own Dark Magdalene at the BMHC



Experience Painting as Prayer while you create your own Dark Magdalene, using the same materials I used for the paintings in The Dark Magdalene exhibition at the Bronx Music Heritage Center. 

All materials provided.

July 7, 2018 , 3:00 p.m. at the Bronx Music Heritage Center, $25 Registration previous to the day of the workshop is required.


Monday, February 26, 2018

A Beautiful Memory

Recently, several people have asked me about this year's Mary Magdalene Celebration... and unfortunately, I probably won't be able to do a big event this year.

There are so many reasons, but the main one is that Raquel Z. Rivera won't be able to come sing. And also because I will probably be in transition for this entire year, with my house in construction and all that this implies.

My main commitment this year is to create an exhibition, titled The Dark Magdalene, to be presented in May at the Bronx Music Heritage Center. This exhibition will still be on the wall on July 22, so if I am in NYC, I will be there celebrating in some way. It is possible I will be enjoying a new project in Puerto Rico, La Casita Art Studio. And I will let you know more about this very soon.

But back to the Mary Magdalene Celebration. I went through all my Facebook posts (hard work!) until I found this video of Corazón Tierra's dance workshop. She asked me to get it for her since she didn't have it in her files. It was filmed by Gisela González during the Mary Magdalene Celebration 2017. I hope you enjoy it!


Magdalene blessings of Love, Peace and Joy for you and all your loved ones.

Tuesday, January 09, 2018

Review 94: Literature and Arts of the Americas

I met author Ernesto Quiñónez (Bodega Dreams, Chango's Fire) back when I had just opened Mixta Gallery in 2000. He was walking around the neighborhood with his Spanish editor and they stopped by to look at the art. 

Since then, he became a friend and a supporter of my work and that of the young poets who used to hang out and share their work at the gallery. We were his fans and he was ours. He even mentioned me in his book Chango's Fire. I'm a character in a book ;) !!

So many years later, we haven't seen each other in a while, but he is always present and always in my heart. Last year, he surprised me by not just including my work in this publication of CCNY students and Alumni, but also writing about it! 

Thank you Ernesto and Daniel Shapiro for your work and your support. Here go the cover and the article.







Thursday, January 04, 2018

The Studio Is Where the Soul Is



I can live without a home and a bedroom a kitchen and a bathroom, but not without a studio. That is my literal and current truth.

For one month now I have been traveling 2 hours a day, back and forth from Washington Heights where my mother in law lives to East Harlem where my husband and I bought a building 20 years ago. Where our son was born and grew. Where all my most productive years have happened, and all my studios in that time have been.

This is not a tragic story, just something that happens to building owners sometimes. The oldest building's certificate of occupancy does not match the current structure (the building was sold to us with a different description,) so we have to make it match according to the two city agencies involved. A long and expensive process, but unavoidable.

The good news is we are alive and healthy and hopeful that we will be able to make the necessary changes so that our building can be our home again or at least our business again.

The one thing that has made the process bearable is being able to keep my studio space. I will have to pack it too at some point this year, and I am not looking forward to that. But I have no choice.

Among other things, this process has taught me how little I really need. I miss having my own place, but I don't miss having an apartment full of stuff. I am fine with living off a suitcase and suspect that when I am finally able to unpack the 100 boxes we had to pack, there will be a lot of donations taking place. And that is liberating.

But the one thing I cannot live without is my workspace. That is the place where I think, breath, exist at my most real. And when I lose that, I need to have a plan in place because my mind might not be able to take it ;)

So to begin the year strong and to have a reason to move forward, I am spending as long as necessary planning a great year. I am building myself a map that will show me where to go and what to do when I feel lost.

I have been living my dream for so many years that facing the possibility of having to find a "real job" is very scary and frustrating. So by having a plan for art, a survival plan to stay afloat, I hope to be able to save the "job" I have been doing for so long even if I have to take a different road for a while.

While I am not looking forward to taking the bus tomorrow with the snowstorm that is going on outside, I am looking forward to making this a great year for my work. That is my greatest intention and I will be working non-stop to make it my reality.


When I don't have a studio: I can do these tiny abstract paintings made with love, peace and joy to carry close to your heart. This one has amethyst beads and an adjustable leather necklace.
Have you seen my Magical Medallions? See some examples here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10154858033932181.1073741854.689597180&type=1&l=e4156189a8