Tara - Tara Choate

The Beach House

Jun 24, 2019Tara2 CommentsFamily

Preface: I had hoped to have my website completely updated and finished before pushing a new blog post, but I needed to vent a little. We’ll call this a “soft opening.” History I don’t think I’ve ever written about “The Beach House” before. My mom and dad purchased the land, in a development south of

What should I call my journal?

Jun 2, 2019TaraPainting

So, it’s been a while. I’m not going to apologize because I think you all know my reasons for taking it easy; however, it was a little scary logging onto the site just now and seeing 31,000+ comments (spammers, hard at work). I must remember to check in a LITTLE more often, even when I’m

What’s Next?

May 13, 2019Tara2 CommentsPainting

As I mentioned in last week’s post, after the workshop, I spent a few days just puttering around. During this period, I made a few decisions. I need some down time. I need a break from painting. I need some time to sort out my goals and maybe even my styles. I have WAY too

Skip Lawrence Workshop

May 6, 2019Tara4 CommentsPainting

It’s been an intense few months. And I’ve been burning the candle at both ends. So on April 26 I started a ten day vacation that was arranged around a workshop by Skip Lawrence. This workshop was organized and put on by the frequently admired Ruth Armitage, who counts Mr. Lawrence as one of her

It wasn’t about the money

Apr 22, 2019Tara1 CommentIndividual Tara

This weekend Mom’s estate took part in “The Great Oregon Coast Garage Sale“. After the initial visit to Mom’s house, where I cleaned out her clothes (Marie Kondo, step 1) and books (Marie Kondo, step 2 (went into my Little Free Library and are still be distributed)), I decided it would probably be simpler to

Happy medium no longer exists

Apr 10, 2019Tara2 CommentsIndividual Tara

Forgive me for this rant. It’s a rant about something distinctly first world, but I find myself unwilling to keep it bottled up. Why is it so freaking hard to get a good haircut? It’s been years since I consistently got good haircuts. I’ll fool around with the salon routine for a few months until

Trust your intuition, you

Apr 9, 2019Tara1 CommentPainting

As I mentioned in my previous post, this weekend was the Watercolor Society of Oregon (WSO) Spring Convention. The WSO conventions are always something of a highlight for me; they are events that I plan my year around, both time and painting. I have been painting very little, if at all in the last few

Extremity

Apr 8, 2019Tara2 CommentsIndividual Tara

A friend pointed out this week that I had not posted for more than a month. I’m working on apologizing less, so I would like to say thank you for any remaining readers I may have. I can’t promise to be any better in the next few weeks, but please know that I have started

Judgements

Mar 6, 2019Tara4 CommentsPainting

I did not go to work today because I had a nasty “stomach” and… well… let’s just leave it there. After calling in sick, I went back to bed for a while, then made some phone calls (will the phone calls never end), then took another nap. By this time, I was feeling well enough

Hold your applause

Mar 4, 2019Tara1 CommentDogs & Nosework, Individual Tara

I want to show you my accomplishment over the last three days. I know. You just gasped in shock and amazement. Your heart filled with envy. I am sure you wish for a corner for your very own. Yeah. What’s exciting about this corner is that it does not have three boxes of paperwork left