Today we’d like to introduce you to Tina Hays.
Tina, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I grew up in Southern California and from a very young age was always making art, I am fortunate to have very supportive parents who encouraged this and let me paint on just about everything including making murals on the walls of our home. In addition, they taught me to fill up my creative reservoir and cultivate an artist’s eye by exposing me to galleries and inspiring a love of the natural world and travel. I studied art at USC where I discovered the field of art therapy and later after living and working in LA for a bit I went back for my master’s in clinical art therapy and marriage and family therapy at LMU. All the while I was making art, art about coming of age, about healing, about the place and time I found myself in, whatever was happening to me in that moment.
Art has and continues to be grounding for me, I change and grow and the art reflects this back to me, helping me rediscover myself again and again. Despite the subject, mine is a very internal and self-oriented process. I have always primarily been a painter, but I love to play with different materials and lately my interest and focus has been mixed media and collage. I’ve got huge stacks of old magazines from the 60’s and 70’s, this brief slice of time that connects me to my parent’s lived experience. Now as a parent myself I sort through adds and stories that would have populated their early world, there are so many layers. I work in the mental health field now and find that my personal work is, as always, necessary self-care and I am looking forward to new discoveries.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
Currently I do a lot of mixed media collage, I cut and construct small scenes of potted plants, desert dwellers are my favorite. I also do abstract paintings and color has always been as prominent as subject for me. I look to color first when I am working on a collage and when I paint to find my way. I typically don’t plan too far ahead with my work but like to let it unravel and tell the story that needs telling as I move along.
I hope that my artwork continues the conversation, like an open-ended question. I like to imagine that the pieces are layered enough to inspire a variety of interactions and feelings, ironically, as a 2-D artist I want my work to have a body and presence, in the mind of the viewer, and hopefully be flexible and develop over time. I suppose I want art that acts like wine.
Artists rarely, if ever pursue art for the money. Nonetheless, we all have bills and responsibilities and many aspiring artists are discouraged from pursuing art due to financial reasons. Any advice or thoughts you’d like to share with prospective artists?
The business side of the gig is challenging, of course I would much rather spend my time painting and drawing and doing just about anything other than trying to set up a website or make a spreadsheet to determine if my small endeavor is financially viable. If you don’t have the background, training or support my advice to you (and to myself) is to self-educate, there are a lot of free tutorials to be found online. If you have people in your life who do have those skills reach out and ask for help, overcoming my tech shame continues to be a challenge, but I don’t want to become stagnate so I must keep on stretching and trying to grow.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
Right now they can see my art on Instagram, or at Thrive, a women’s co-working space in the Heritage District in Gilbert. I will be participating in the Gilbert Art Walk, as well as, the Made with Love events this fall as well. I do accept commissions and have work available for purchase on Etsy.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 951-259-1607
- Website: tinahays.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tinahays/
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TinaHaysArt
Image Credit:
Tina Hays
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