The Absence of Apricity
apricity (n): The warmth of the sun in winter Oregon has rolled into rainy darkness. This is fine with me; heat, sunshine, and all the rest are overrated. On the…
Tara Choate Shifting Gears
Whenever I go to a painting workshop, someone will inevitably comment on how fast I paint. It is not uncommon for me to have four paintings “going” at a time.…
Charge Your Brushes
This weekend I attended the always excellent Watercolor Society of Oregon Convention and Exhibition in The Dalles, Oregon. I attended with Catherine Hingson. She was new to the club, so…
Plein Air Production
The last couple of weeks have been busy. The Pacific Artists Co-Op Gallery has been a little short-staffed, due to two artists being out for medical issues, so I have…
Ten reads to a belief in meliorism
Meliorism: the belief that the world can be made better by human effort. (Alternate definition: the belief that the world tends to improve and that humans can aid its betterment.)…
A: Rainy Days and Fridays
Q: What are two of Tara’s favorite things. If I was running the world, I would add weather holidays to the agenda. The first fine day of spring, the first…
Gotta Love a Rainy Day
Recently, I learned that 2025 has been the hottest year ever recorded on earth. After I got done screaming, “The sky is falling”–and understand, I only stopped because I got…
You asked for it
For a variety of reasons, it’s been a tough week. I woke up this morning in bad mood. Sometimes when I’m feeling cranky, I’m able to channel that feeling into…
Getting to “Published” (Part 1)
Grand Passion (1994) by one of my favorite authors, Jayne Ann Krentz, has a subplot I have always found delightful. The female lead has published a book and is about…