Gerry Tarney
I’ve been drawing and painting most of my life; I recall being selected to decorate the entire blackboard with fall-colored trees for my 5th grade Thanksgiving pageant–Pocahontas. When I graduated from 8th grade, my mom passed her oil painting kit to me and I spent that summer visiting a local neighborhood senior artist. I’ve been dabbling in various media on and off ever since.
I’ve always enjoyed nature in its many-faceted forms and was drawn to landscape. I grew up in a small town outside Greensburg, Pennsylvania. As a kid, I was always outside–playing in the yard, riding down to the Flats at the edge of town, hiking and camping with the scouts. My art is inspired by the world around me. From high mountain fields to forest paths, from creeks to lakes, from spring to summer to fall and winter, nature always provides my favorite subject. I hope to evoke the feeling of the moment, transporting the viewer to a feeling of “being there.”
I was lucky enough to have a few very good art history classes in high school and college that provided insights into art and artists’ approaches as much as history. I was taken by the impressionists and modeled my approach loosely on that style. Having never had much formal training, I lean more on intuition and glean ideas wherever I can.
Lately, I am trying to grow my skills more intentionally, learning about the technical fundamentals of painting. I am currently focused on exploring how color is affected by light and its surrounding.
Enjoy browsing my selection of works in oil, pastel, watercolor, and charcoal. You’ll find some originals are available, while most have prints offered as well.
