Creative Spotlight | Tara Naval
Published on 08 December 2021
Tell us a bit about who you are and what kind of creative work you make.
I am a bedroom goblin who adventures into different creative spaces. However, I cut my teeth on traditional art until I began dabbling in jewellery making and mixed media.
I have recently returned to my roots, re-learning and re-loving painting with but plans to delve into the exciting world of digital art. After years of losing confidence in my abilities as an artist, I decided to try just making what made me happy. It is still quite the journey but I hope to eventually grow a great art practice and maybe a little art business.
Where can we find out more about your work and get in touch?
I mostly promote my work on Instagram @temporiumart. I also have some products available on Red Bubble and Society 6. I’ll have a proper shop set up soon so please follow me to get the latest news, art experiments and sales!
How does your personal history, culture or experience inform your creative work?
I grew up travelling around many countries and learning many languages. However, my roots remain in Asia. My work is a reflection of my insatiable hunger for learning and curiosity. Each painting and experiment is my attempt to reflect the things that I learn. I love history and mythology so I always integrate elements of that in my work. I especially love re-imagining ancient gods and heroes, it gives me an excuse to use gold paint!
My work always tries to take inspiration from the many cultures I have encountered or studied, including my own. I always want to pay homage to the variety of styles and influences I’ve discovered, be it taxidermy or damascene enamelling or even anime chibis.
When the world is so incredible and beautiful, I can’t help but try to express my wonder through my art.
What’s the most challenging part of working as an artist / creative?
Promoting yourself! I really struggle to get myself out there and feel confident. I never feel like my work is good enough to be displayed or even sold. Even now, I really struggle with wanting to share my work and thinking that no one will like it. It is every artist’s challenge to put themselves out there and I know I struggle with that a lot.
Art is not about obtaining approval, its worth lies in its creation and how it makes you feel. I have started to teach myself to appreciate my own work and the efforts I put into it without comparing myself to others.
One of the ways I’ve learned to accept my work and promote myself is by promoting others! By sharing my work and doing my art with other talented artists, I have developed more confidence in my abilities as well as developed an appreciation of my own style. It’s important to connect and communicate with other creatives because, more often than not, they’ll be your greatest cheerleaders as opposed to perceived competition.
What’s your favourite part of working as an artist / creative?
You know that part of your brain that lights up because its filled with ideas? You suddenly imagine textures and flurries of a paintbrush, maybe even glimpses of the image that you suddenly want to recreate. That feeling, the one where you’re excited to get home and try and put pen to paper or start pulling out all the bits and bobs in your craft box in order to create something new.
I absolutely love that part of the process – sometimes it leads to something incredible, other times, a lot of trial and error. But that feeling of budding inspiration and motivation is incredible.