含羞草传媒

Artist Tammy Blais 鈥�03 has a minimalist鈥檚 approach to life, but her paintings tell an entirely different鈥攁nd decidedly vivid鈥攕tory.

Enter the home studio of Tammy Blais 鈥�03, and you鈥檒l see an easel as well as, perhaps, a few paintings in progress. But you won鈥檛 find a paint-spattered floor, drop cloths, blank canvases, or crushed paint tubes. You won鈥檛 note the smell of turpentine. Instead, there鈥檚 a single, spotless easel and a painting in progress: a rustic seaside village scene, done in blues, yellows, and greens.

There鈥檚 also a snippet from a vintage Simplicity sewing pattern that reads, 鈥淕irl. Size 10. A. Dress Back.鈥� More on that later.

First, know that Blais is a committed minimalist. 鈥淚 love having less. Less clutter, less paint, less of the things that can overwhelm the mind,鈥� she says. She walks to a tiny cart wedged in a corner, next to a cast-iron radiator. Now we see the palette knives, scissors, pencils, pens, and turpentine, neatly arranged. From underneath, Blais produces a small wooden tray where she keeps her paints. She favors Winsor & Newton oils, especially ultramarine, burnt umber, titanium white, yellow ochre, and cadmium orange. Again, expectations are subverted. Many of the tubes are small鈥攏o more than the size of a man鈥檚 index finger. There doesn鈥檛 seem to be enough paint for her larger canvases, like the one that spans her mantelpiece, but Blais has art down to a science.

And she鈥檇 rather talk color anyway. 鈥淚 love a good orange in a sea of blue,鈥� she says.

The viewer, though, returns to the unusual. Blais鈥� oil paintings are made with a palette knife. You won鈥檛 find a single brushstroke.

Finding Freedom in a Palette Knife

In addition to selling her art and conducting workshops, Blais runs her own photography business, Tammy Blais Photography. Painting is both an outlet and an antidote for Blais, and her approach to it is a kind of release.

鈥淲hen I began painting, I realized paintbrushes were not providing me a way to paint how I wanted; they were pushing me to be particular when I needed to be freer. When I began using the palette knife, I knew that was it,鈥� Blais says. 鈥淚 was able to make my messy lines, wonky shapes, and the textures I needed.鈥�

鈥淏y forgoing rules and embracing a free-flowing technique, I allow each composition to reveal itself organically and expressively.鈥�

She favors coastal scenes: boats in a marina, clapboard houses in seaside towns, beaches dotted with umbrellas. And that vintage sewing pattern? She is fond of adding ephemera to her compositions鈥攖hings like old dress patterns, sheet music, and maps鈥攚hich encourage and reward lingering with the paintings. The overall vibe is whimsical, bustling, joyful, and odd鈥攐dd in the sense that if, when you think of oil painting, you think of stern portraits painted by 17th-century Dutch masters, this is decidedly not that.

鈥淚鈥檓 looking to translate the freedom I feel in the studio into an experience that brings the viewer happiness,鈥� Blais says and laughs. In conversation, laughter is Blais鈥檚 preferred form of punctuation.

On this unseasonably warm spring day, Blais, who majored in textiles, fashion merchandising, and design at 含羞草传媒, is dressed, head to toe, in black, a signature look for the artist. Very minimalist. She grins at the observation. The discrepancy between art and artist is not lost on her. But to Blais, color is not limited to what can be seen.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a certain elegance to neutrals, don鈥檛 you think?鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut personalities can be the color.鈥�

鈥擬arybeth Reilly-McGreen

See Blais’ work at .

PHOTOS: Courtesy Tammy Blais