Tara Leaver is a British artist whose abstract landscape paintings evoke the sensory experiences of immersing in the natural landscape of her home on the coast of Cornwall. She is happiest near – or preferably in – the sea, where she swims as often as she can. Leaver immerses herself in the multi-sensory experience of it, taking photos underwater, looking and feeling into the abundance of life above and below the waves. Back in the studio, Leaver weaves together elements from the photos, memories, and gathered seaweed, to distil those experiences into paintings.
Liquid, dynamic paint layers of varying consistencies are combined with fleeting, but more carefully drawn or carved glimpses of recognisable elements of aquatic life, from the birds overhead to the seaweed below. Leaver challenges herself to create something unexpected in each painting, something that prompts a second look; working until every piece expresses what feels like a truth about the pleasures and surprises of immersion in wild nature.
Leaver has exhibited in galleries in Sussex, Cornwall, and the Cotswolds, and her work is owned by private collectors in Europe, Australia, the USA, Canada and Africa.
Self-taught or art school?
The last formal training I did was a year-long foundation course in London in my early twenties, after studying art all the way through school, and a month spent in Florence studying at the Charles H. Cecil Studios. Then there was a hiatus in my practice until I moved to Hove in 2012 and resumed learning voraciously through a succession of courses, workshops, and my own explorations over the following years. In 2018 I took a year-long mentoring programme in St Ives, Cornwall, which established my current practice.
If you could own one work of art what would it be?
Only one?! I’ve been sitting here gazing into space, frozen by choices! I think today I would say one of Emily Ball’s paintings from her Floating World series. I fall in love with them every time I see them; her gestural marks create a visceral response in me and I find them incredibly alive and invigorating. Her use of negative space is masterful too. She has a way of painting things without painting them, in such a way that you feel what’s happening without having it explained in minute detail.
How would you describe your style?
A combination of free-flowing and gestural expressive abstract with more considered drawn and carved elements, and a Japanese influence.
Can you tell us about your artistic process?
It starts in sensory experience. I like to immerse myself in the natural environment where I live, in particular in the sea, and take a lot of photos, often underwater.
Back in the studio, I combine these lived experiences and images with materials that reflect that rawness and elegance of the natural world – lots of very liquid paint and inks, pigments, and often unprimed wood panels.
After a more active beginning, the pace then slows with more mindfully drawn elements like seaweed, foliage and birds. I aim to create a reconnection to that 360 degree feeling of being surrounded by wild nature in its sounds, sights, and sensations, but with space and simplicity too. I work on many paintings at once, so they can all speak to each other and pull each other forward.
Is narrative important within your work?
What an interesting question. I think all art has a story to tell, whether intentionally by the artist, or simply because the viewer perceives one when bringing their own beliefs and experiences to looking at the work.
My work doesn’t so much contain any kind of intentional narrative as it does doorways into momentary but richly layered experiences. My hope is that in looking at it, a sensory experience is remembered and relived, even for a moment – a reconnection with our aquatic, natural selves.
Who are your favourite artists and why?
There are so many, and I’m always discovering more. Historically speaking, Schiele has always been a favourite for his incredible linework and sensuality. In terms of contemporary artists, I love Naomi Frears, Kerry Harding, Peter Doig, Emily Ball, and land artist Shona Wilson.
What or who inspires your art?
Wild nature and in particular water – the sea first and foremost. Movement plays a significant part of my work. Freedom is at the base of all of it.
I also love Japanese brush painting – such richness and subtlety conveyed with apparently very little. I’m fascinated by Japanese art and aesthetics and would love to visit one day.
Words are another of my life’s great loves, and they play a large part in the work, mostly invisibly. I play with words all the time and am a huge bookworm. The most visible place is in the titles.
Where’s your studio and what’s it like?
After many years on floors and in corners of rooms, I am very fortunate to now have a purpose-built studio at the bottom of the garden. It’s not overlooked {except by horses}, is surrounded by a very untamed part of the garden, and has a view of the sea. One wall is glass, to make the most of the view and the fantastic light here in Cornwall.
Originally I had thought to have a modest shed built down there, but the project rather took on a life of its own! It has a tiny kitchen area and shower room, as well as a mezzanine level for storage, so can have other potential uses and also means I don’t have to break my flow to go up to the house for things.
Because I mostly work flat, I like to be able to spread out and use the tables and the floor; inevitably it’s usually fairly chaotic in there. I do periodically have to tidy up a bit or it gets too ‘noisy’, and I run out of space for myself!
Do you have any studio rituals?
Not really, unless you count turning on Classic FM as soon as I get in there! But then sometimes it’s a playlist or podcast. I prefer to flow into working without too much structure. Sometimes I start with a long period of looking; sometimes I dive straight in. I try to leave something specific not yet done each time so I always have a starting point when I return.
What are you working on currently?
I’ve been working on completing some previously unfinished pieces lately, and am preparing to create a new collection. Sometimes I need to tie up loose ends while I percolate new ideas before the inner and outer landscape of self and studio feel clear enough to begin a new body of work.
Where can we buy your art?
Directly via my website at taraleaverart.com {www.taraleaverart.com/originals}, where I also sell a small selection of prints. I have work at Tin Coast Design in Penzance {www.tincoastdesign.co.uk}, and various galleries throughout the year. Best to sign up to the email list on my website to be kept in the loop about those. Work is also available through Instagram {www.instagram.com/taraleaverart}.
