Uphill idealist

There are days that feel out of sync. They jumble, rustle, and rattle your center until all gravity is gone. The ravens of change caw and cause you to shudder as you walk along the path ahead. Are you really blazing a trail or just settling for a scenic route to avoid the potholes. But each day, I'm told, is brand new. And the restlessness can be a sign that something exciting and purposeful is growing here. That flock of black birds could be calling me to pay some mind to the dew on the grass and the harvest in the fields that surround me. Each step could be backwards, but there is movement. There is progress. Obstacles are being faced and filled in. Rome wasn't built in a day, and roots don't grow deep overnight. Renewal sometimes needs to be wrestled with, wandered around and waited for - until one day something just fits. There are days that feel out of sync - but this day something settled in with hope and will dig deep. The ravens told me so. M...

This week my teaching artist friend Renee and I had the privilege of returning to visit a Pre-K Classroom at Fletcher Elementary for a mural project with the Arts Council of  Chautauqua County .We are working on two board murals about 2X6 feet in size. One board is a life-cycle study and the other is the four seasons. Here is our progress thus far. The students that are working on this project are only 4 years old and there are about 17 students in each of the two classes. This kind of teaching keeps an instructor on their toes and gives us a good dose of cute as well. Next week, we'll return to wrap up the project with these two groups of pre-schoolers.  Isn't it amazing what little ones can accomplish with a little helping hand?

"Revealed" Acrylic, Watercolor and Salt Painting 48"X12" For all the kind people that have asked me for prints, cards or access to my original paintings, the day has arrived! Go to my Personal Artist Profile with Fine Art America to view current art work that is for sale: Tara's Artist Profile.

Earlier this week, I was working on a concept painting for a potential mural project. If you would, please take a moment and look at the painting below. After a good look, please leave a comment telling me your first response: I'd like to know your first idea, feeling, or impression from what you see. Thanks for the research help. Here's to pictures that speak a thousand words...or at least a dozen. :)

February 2012, Creative Arts of Women of Western NY will be holding a juried exhibit to celebrate the 5th Annual SWAN - Support Women Artists Now! I've submitted the following three painting to be considered for this upcoming exhibit - Open wide the window of my soul Leo's Pretty Tree and my newest painting - Raven's Dawn Acrylic/Watercolor on canvas. To view more images of my paintings, visit Tara Lamont Eastman Art/Mural Booking. At a certain point he (Poe) was very popular, from THE RAVEN. He was never fully appreciated, never made the money, and you know he was looked upon with admiration by some people, but also as an oddball. But that was his point. John Astin Read more: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/raven.html#ixzz1i04SSJwo

Over the past few weeks, a number of youth and adults from FLC, folks from the Gateway Center and members of our greater community have volunteered their time and creative energy to design and paint the new Laser Tag Game Center. The addition of the Laser Tag to the Gateway Center came when the supplies from a local business were purchased and donated to the community center. Over the past few weeks, over twenty people worked together to make the feat of decorating thirteen game room wall panels, the suiting-up room, and two sides-floor-to-ceiling-mural- of a 40 foot hallway. The right hallway design consists of a city sky line that includes bridges, buildings and street lights. The left hallway design consists of subway cars with windows full of passengers. The paints used in the hallway and suit up room was a mix of spray paint and acrylics. The paint in the game room, needed to be sensitive to black light, so only fluorescent spray paint was used. If you look carefully at each paint...

A local community center in the Jamestown Area was the recipient of a donation of complete laser tag equipment over the holiday season. The director of the Gateway Center , Amy Rohler, asked if I and my church ( First Lutheran Church of Jamestown ) would be interested in helping with the project of painting the area.Our theme for the project is "LIGHT". Each panel inside of the game area is 6 ft. by 12 ft., and we are primarily using fluorescent spray paint (as it is a black light lit space) on a black surface. There are 13 panels in the game room and we also are working on a hallway mural that leads to the game play area. The three panels above are a sample of the style that we are working in. The team that will complete this project are youth, young adults, local artists and me - thank GOD for having a team for such a big project. I will post more as this project moves along. Please keep us in your prayers as this project will need to be complete by Saturday Feb. 5th, 2011.

The painting continues at Infinity music , finally I'm starting to see this smallish mural beginning to come to life. Stay tuned for more progress.

Below is a sketch that I've started that is the beginning of a small mural project that will be going up on one of the walls at Infinity Performing Arts of Jamestown, NY. My children both take music lessons there and they are starting some visual arts classes as well. I was honored that they asked me to participate in a combined effort of many local artists to add some color and visual interest to their walls. Here's to another painting adventure!

Utility boxes painted with the Precita Eyes project. Precita Eyes is an effort to beautify the mission district area of San Francisco. About two years ago I had the opportunity to see some of the murals for myself when I visited the area. Ever since then, I've hoped for an opportunity to help beautify my own small city with a similar kind of mural project. This morning I spoke to a friend of mine who just completed a clean-up/mural grant for our town. He called to ask me if I would like to be interested in helping with the painting of this mural. Am I interested? Yes! Let's see how things develop in the next month or so - the eyes of precita seem to be winking and looking this way!

“The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.” Don Williams Jr. Mixed media painting by T.L. Eastman - "Embrace the journey" August 09'

Image from A year from Oak Cottage . A few weeks ago, my office was repainted in some welcoming and cheery colors: Spice, Plum and Realm. I found my paint at True Value from a color swatch card. "Wow - that's it!" is what I stated when I opened the envelope at the color swatch card inside. Now this is what I'm looking for - only in a quote. At the top of the wall I have a large blank section that I'd like to place a thoughtful quote upon. This is the one I was considering: "And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8 How would you respond walking into a space with that painted upon the wall? Would it feel welcoming? What is your first impression of that quote? If you have any quote suggestions for this project, let me know. My goal is for the space to make those who enter feel welcome and safe. Let's see what we can discover together. When the work is done I'll post the pict...