Terryl Tagg

The more that I paint and communicate with paint, the harder it seems to communicate in words.  Through my paintings, I strive to portray a feeling or spirit of the person or place that I am describing.  My subjects are all personal and become a kind of timeline of our journey through these last 22 years.  My wife, Linda Sue Scott, is a photographer, and much of my work is inspired from her photographs.  Almost 35 years ago, she told me that, " My lights are my paints."  Unknowingly, this was the beginning of my education about how to see light.  

I love the way that I feel when I am painting in the zone; my canvas seems to throb with a life of its own almost bouncing off the easel at times.  It can be a very physical and even visceral feeling entering this world of creation, color, and texture.  Painting brings me a sense of peace and purpose.  It sets me free.  I have found what I love to do!

As a young child in the sixties, a family friend, Tommy Sange, who started painting in his 60’s, after two heart attacks, inspired me.  His doctor had told him that he could no longer handle the stress of his work.  I remember him as the happiest man I knew.  His painting style was, ”Bay area figurative abstract”,  which was a new sensation at that time.  I have been attracted to this style ever since.  I love the freedom, movement and spontaneity.

I never considered art, as an option for myself. When I was 9, I was laughed out of a summer school art class.  The teacher held up my work as an example of the worst thing that he had ever seen.  Needless to say, that was my first and last day in an art class.  But in my 30’s I started hand coloring some of Linda Sue’s black and white photos and found that I had a knack for color.  This led me to want to learn how to draw, and thus I started this path.  If I ever feel stuck, I ask Tommy to help me, and you know, I believe he does.

I paint in my studio and gallery at our home in Todos Santos, Baja California Sur.  The artist community there is vibrant and in itself inspiring.  In 2005 we were so impressed with this small Mexican village that in a three day visit, we left with a house and a dog.  Since then we have driven the 1,000 miles of the Baja many times, feasting our senses with jaw dropping vistas, and vast expanses of rugged beauty that warm my soul.  Every drive has been a new adventure, challenge, and inspiration.  These experiences then become themes for new paintings.  Our home there, currently has more than 75 paintings both inside and out.   Travelers who stay there say that it is like living in an art gallery.

My paintings are living in New York, California, Colorado, Washington, Kansas and Mexico.  We live in Carmel Valley near the Monterey coast and am currently looking forward to a new adventure in Los Angeles.  Can’t wait to explore and get acquainted with the art scene and diversity of this vibrant city.