Local artist Tania Blanchard’s artwork is in high demand, she’s even developed an impressive purpose-built workshop on her own property to keep up with creating new artworks for galleries, interior designers and even requests for commissioned artworks.
Gracing the homes of some famous Australians like singer-songwriter Amy Shark, surfer Joel Parkinson, and TV host Shelley Craft, Tania’s works found unprecedented fame on The Block.
Moving to the Gold Coast over 15 years ago, she has witnessed the changing landscape and culture in our vibrant city by the sea, where she is right at home.
When she first started out, Tania had just completed a Visual Arts degree and was working as a graphic designer to pay the bills while raising a family and exploring art on the side.
She soon began to pick up the pace and practice her art more seriously, sharing her creations via Instagram, which helped turn years of hard work into what seemed to be an overnight sensation.
Tania’s friend Simone Kira, co-founder of Interior Design Studio Kira & Kira saw one of her artworks on Instagram and immediately loved what she saw.
“Simone saw my art and was so confident it would sell that she suggested I display it in her store,” says Tania.
“So, I did, and it sold straight away, and she kept asking for more.
“I then uploaded a selection of art to Instagram and the interest and orders were instantaneous.
“It was crazy, I would post in the morning, and the piece would sell by lunch.”
What followed was a trip to Melbourne to showcase her portfolio and resulted in one of Tania’s pieces taking centre stage on Channel Nine’s popular renovation program The Block.
“It was amazing to have the opportunity to show the contestants my work, I was stunned when Ronnie and Georgia selected my two-metre by 1.4 metre painting for the final room reveal,” she says.
It didn’t take long for Tania’s limited-edition prints to sell like crazy as well as her Instagram gaining thousands of extra followers.
From there Tania opened an art gallery in Burleigh Heads, to showcase local art and artists.
“We had many group exhibitions including my solo exhibition, which was opened by Shelley Craft.
“Being passionate about the arts, I wanted to support other aspiring artists and we put on really fantastic shows, bringing creative people together and getting at least two hundred people at the openings, which was awesome.
“But it was hard finding the balance between work and family and when Covid hit I had to make the hard decision to close the gallery and move back home and build a studio.
“This was a very hard decision to make as I loved supporting the art community,” she says.
Her unique style involves an impasto technique, which focuses on layering textures and colours with a variety of different sized palette knives.
All of Tania’s paintings are created on 100% cotton canvas, prepared or primed by her own hand.
An important part of the process is hand mixing the colours with added thickeners.
“To achieve that textured and colourful look, I create one or two colours a day,” she says.
“The paints need to completely dry before adding another layer.
“The climate on the Gold Coast is perfect for my art, as the paint can dry relatively quickly compared to a colder climate.”
It’s a lengthy process that takes a minimum of four to six weeks, but well worth the artistry and effort.
With each work boasting between 50 to 100 colours, Tania maintains a meticulous record of all the colours she individually creates.
On the base level, Tania uses a wider palette knife, and depending on the painting, progresses to a smaller sized application to create the stunning dotted affect her art has become renowned for.
“When you view my artwork up close, you can see the effect created by the varying sizes of palette knives,” says Tania.
Tania’s work has been described as impressionistic, connecting it with the French movement that sought to express their perceptions of nature, rather than create exact representations.
“One of the objectives for me is that on your first impression the art seems minimalistic, but when you move in for a closer inspection, the red might have ten or more different kinds of red in it,” she says.
“I never do a painting using just the one colour, it will always have at least 20 different shades.
“The use of colour is important to me and I like the idea of using contrast in colours, it does something to your eyes and gives you an experience.”
There’s this philosophy on colour therapy and how it makes you feel and that’s important to me, that people get to feel something, and they connect with my art
Instagram: @tania_blanchard_creative
Website: www.taniablanchardcreative.com
