Artist's Biography
Member of: Oil Painter’s of America, Portrait Artist of America, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Steamboat Art Museum, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Art Association of Jackson Hole.
Tammy grew up in the lush redwood landscape of the north coast of California where she raised her three children. She currently resides in the Jackson Hole area of Wyoming, where she enjoys the vast Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.
Early on, Callens was naturally drawn to art. As the youngest child in a family of five siblings that included two sets of twins, Tammy grew up in a creative and talented environment that encouraged drawing and painting. Her mother, who was an art teacher, was the major factor in planting these seeds when she urged Tammy and her twin brother to sketch their own images over and over while sitting in front of a mirror.
Her interest as a professional artist began through enjoying great artists such as Zorn, Sorolla, and Sargent. Studying their works as well as observing today’s masters has inspired Tammy to paint full-time and constantly to improve her skills.
Proficient in landscape, figure and portrait subjects, Tammy utilizes traditional painting techniques in a decidedly contemporary fashion. While her subject matter remains timeless, she favors dramatic and yet intimate compositions that feature shimmering color harmonies and painterly brushwork.
In all, Tammy’s luminous oils reflect clarity of vision, passion, and a spiritual focus reminiscent of earlier American impressionists such as Edgar Payne, Guy Rose and William Wendt.
“Ernest Hemingway once said that he could write a story in six words, It went like this, “For Sale, Baby Shoes, Never Worn” I love that…and it’s a great way express my feelings about my paintings. My hope is that you see a painting you like, and that it tells its own personal story for you. While a story may be told in six words, “a picture is worth a thousand words.”
