Behind the canvas
From a bare birch panel to a signed, framed painting — and all the small hours in between. Pull up a chair and watch.
How a painting is made
Grundning
Many of Tanya's paintings begin on birchwood rather than canvas. Each bare panel is brushed with white gesso, one layer after another, until the grain is sealed and the surface is ready to hold oil paint for generations.
Detaljerna
Lantern light, frost on a goat's collar, the whiskers of a tiny mouse — the last touches are painted with the smallest brushes, often in the wee hours of the night.
Måla ute
Whenever the weather allows — and sometimes when it doesn't — the easel goes outside. “Be Fierce”, the storm of The Elements, was painted by the lake, and “Fire Phoenix” in her snowy garden.
Short films · @tanyaz.heart
Little films from Tanya's TikTok: paintings coming to life at the easel, art turned into velvet, silk and gold-leaf ornaments, a book of fairytales — and a few adventures in clay.
Bells jingle and a golden sleigh, pulled by the magical Christmas goat, comes thundering through the forest. Then it slows down so the snow spins — two children, cold noses and feet, must not be forgotten… I am feeling the Christmas joy sneaking up on me while I paint, and memories from my childhood appear on the canvas.
Few things are as wondrous as the fantasy of children, where magic is still real and miracles do happen. Finished this painting in the small hours of the night, getting ready for the Christmas market at Larssons Lada.
Magical train — completed this painting in the wee hours of the night. Getting everything ready for the Christmas market: new paintings, prints, handmade ornaments, cookie jars, Christmas cards and wooden jewellery boxes.
I love winter and snow and reading fairytales in front of the fireplace.
In Sweden, the night of midsummer eve never goes completely dark — there's always some sunlight in the back of the sky, even as the moon rises and the stars come out. The best of nights for soulful contemplations and daydreams. I just completed this large oil painting tonight, after not being able to let this image out of my mind for days.
The spring. The sun's rays reach into the deepest nooks and crannies of the forest, awakening everything from its deep slumber. Oil on canvas, 100 × 70 cm.
I am sitting in my garden while it is snowing all around me, painting “Fire in my Soul”. The world looks like a snowy Christmas card and I am shivering a little in my gloves and hat. Inspired by the beauty and heat of music and dance, that can be like fire in the blood and warmth to the heart.
Every woman has an innate ability to create, care for and nurture — to create amazing things. But always freely. If a woman is treated cruelly or taken for granted, I hope she does not lose her sense of self-value, but stands up for herself.
After a lifetime of self-doubt and body shame, a friend of mine decided to stand up for herself — to own her self-worth and her strength, and to realise she could be whomever she wanted to be. I think she deserves a crown! She inspired this painting: a little playful, but mainly a message of freedom and strength.
Happy Valentine's Day. If cared for, love can grow from a single seedling into a majestic family tree.
The magic of painting is that you can dream yourself away to any place you wish. After an eternally long winter, I like to dream that I am walking along a lonely, wide, rocky beach, with the first warming rays of the sun at my back and the water tickling my bare toes.
Protect your art so it will last into the future. Everyone deserves the freedom of walking along a lonely beach while the sun sets, feeling the water trickle between your toes — even royalty.
Do you know how to turn an artwork into velvet fabric? Let me take you behind the scenes, as an artist working in Santa's elves' workshop…
When you want to cuddle a fox, make one in velvet! I always loved foxes. After completing an oil painting of an autumn fox, I had it made into the softest velvet fabric and sewn into a cosy pillow.
Turning my Sleepy Baby Fox painting into a wooden jewellery box, with velvet inside.
Did you ever wonder how the artwork is made for silk scarves? I am so excited to have one of my paintings made into the softest scarf in time for the colder seasons. It feels a little magical — bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!
How do you make fabric from your drawings or paintings? Simple, exciting — and the perfect gift.
Each handmade Christmas decoration has gold leaf and shiny lacquer, velvet bows and frosted pinecones. A lot of late-night work.
All the Christmas cards just arrived — ready for the Christmas market tomorrow!
And here it is — the cover of the new book! When you open it, you enter a world where magic reveals itself around every corner. Written by author Catherine Weaver and brought to life with my illustrations on nearly every page.
Once upon a time… is the perfect opening for any story. It opens the door to any adventure, mystery or romance, in any world we can dream up. This is why I love painting fanciful images, where the beholder hopefully continues to build the story in their own imagination. If you could be the hero of your story, where would it take you?
I made a personal brush dryer that I call “Dream Big”: a sleeping baby dragon that guards my brushes while I paint. Brush dryers look pretty boring, so I decided to make my own in clay. So exciting to see it now it has just come out of the kiln.
I can't get enough of working with clay — it is so fun, soft and real. I always wanted to make my own moon nightlight, and today I could finally take it out of the kiln!
Making a ceramic cup. Goodness — respect to the artists of this craft! What looks so simple takes heavy handling of clay, trying and failing on the wheel, days of drying, firing at over 1000 °C, glazing, into the kiln again — and finally, a cup.
Dear visitor,
Thank you so much for your interest and welcome to my online art gallery. Feel free to contact me to order your paintings. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have regarding the purchase of my paintings.
Welcome to my world of colours, where I hope to write a story that touches your heart and makes you dream.
Love, Tanya
P.S. Many of my original oil paintings are available as fine art prints, as well as fine art prints on canvas.