Reno, Nevada Visionary Artist, Tania Marie, shares from the heart through her her journey and her art, travel, Reiki, and inspirations

EMERALD BRIDGE ..... A Journey of the Heart

Tania Marie, Visionary Artist & Reiki Master Teacher

About Tania

Tania Marie, Visionary Artist

To commission Tania Marie for fine art and visionary design services contact her at tania@taniamarie.com or (775) 343-9244. Click here for more info on services available.

"Perceived limitation is only possible if imagination and inspiration are not nurtured." Tania Marie

Inside the Artist and Person,
Tania Marie

One Artist's Personal Journey:

I was born in Pasadena, California on February 26, 1973 and lived in the Southern California area for most of my life (30+ years). Currently, I split my time between there and Reno, Nevada to live and focus on my creations, while traveling the world whenever possible. Art has been a part of my life since I first learned to hold a crayon and I have been drawing and creating for as long as I can remember. I was always a creative child with an active imagination and a flowing channel of artistic expression. Whether it was drawing, singing, ballet, writing, or simply playing in my imaginary world, creative expression was a piece of my soul that yearned to come forth. It seemed I had a natural artistic and creative ability that flowed effortlessly and drawing brought me a great sense of joy and peace always. I remember my very favorite thing to draw was animals, especially horses. My grandfather from France and I would spend hours drawing together during the summers and any down time I had when he and my grandmother would visit us. We would sit at the kitchen table, side by side and create. Art was an unspoken language between us that connected our souls, despite the language barrier of his French and my English. Although, as a child, I easily absorbed learning French when he was around for long periods of time. We had a beautiful and loving connection that was shared in those silent hours of artistic and creative expression. He truly supported the natural flow of my creativity and imagination, providing me an unconditional space to harness the artist in me.

At school, I remember the other kids would always ask me to help them draw things for our art projects and in 5th grade I would draw a very elaborate pencil drawing on the corner of my desk, which was like the revolving art window that I would erase and update periodically. It was like a little signature thing I would do to create a sacred space for myself in an environment I did not much enjoy.

Tania Marie as a child

I never engaged in any formal training or art classes, but the few arbitrary, part-of-the-curriculum classes that involved art in elementary, junior, high and trade school came so easily to me. I felt that I just instantly knew how to execute a drawing or painting, even if not utilizing a specific "taught technique" or formalized way or rule. I did it with my own style and short cut methods and wasn't too interested in whether I was doing something "right" or utilizing a certain proven or approved method. I simply expressed my joy and reached from within while drawing. While my abilities amazed classmates and teachers, to me it felt natural and at the time I did not give much thought to why it was that I was able to do what I did without training. I feel this was the way "for me" and expressed most authentically my being in Essence. Ego, judgments and all else were nonexistent. I was simply just "being" and channeling the gifts, talents and uniqueness I came to share with the world. We are so much more natural when we are children, until we start to formulate calculating brains from being the brunt of analyzation, judgment, structure, teachings and enculturation from others. This can limit our expansive capabilities until we later learn to unlearn that which is not authentic to us.

It is because of this filtering ability I had with my creative and artistic expression that I believe that my work has maintained a signature style that feels pure, authentic and undefined by standard art definitions. I wish I'd had as much filtration with many other areas of my life, but everything is in divine flow. People always ask me how I would describe my style of art and the best I can do, as I steer away from labels, is to say that I create visionary, mystical, spiritual, healing and surreal art. I feel my creations to be like living art, meditation tools and dream vision windows that are a result of freedom of expression without judgment, rules, or constriction. When I create, I stay away from how things look with the physical eyes and instead I see through my inner eye and the images speak to me, as to the colors and energy they want to manifest forth as. Energy swirls reveal themselves to me, as if I am seeing things translucent and not solid, capturing the moving, swirling energy within each embodiment of life that comes through me on canvas. I believe in the transformative quality creativity can take and realize that words cannot fully express or capture what is created from one's Essence. I celebrate and honor all styles and all artists, recognizing, encouraging and valuing every creative expression in life, yet I choose to keep within my own artistic experience to continue to not be influenced by others. Artistic expression has always been one of my untouched pieces of me that I've managed to keep pure.

Throughout my schooling I was what one would consider a model student, always getting the highest of grades, graduating top of my class in high school and with a perfect attendance record. I guess one could say I was a bit dedicated. To most people's surprise I truly disliked school, never enjoyed home-school activities and always wandered off to outlying cities and beyond for more adventure. I was just the type of person that gave 110% to everything I did and felt if I was going to do something then I was going to do it right and felt there was nothing I couldn't achieve with this attitude.

After high school I continued my education at FIDM - The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, CA where I succeeded to attain a 4.0 GPA through focused, hard work. I had been accepted to FIDM as a junior in high school and with only a couple of weeks off after graduation, I sped through my AA degree there in a year and a half without any breaks inbetween. Graduating Summa Cum Laude with an AA in Merchandise Marketing, I received comprehensive background in all aspects of marketing, touching on design and visual display as well as innovation in new product concepts and trend forecasting, color and form, art history, textiles, buying, fashion consulting and international marketing to name a few.

After graduating, my life took a turn and thus began the next decade of exploration. Graduating at 19 from FIDM and wanting more than to start in a sales position, I started to explore different avenues to find myself. My explorations took me through many different avenues of experience in my work and personal life, all of which led me to learn a great deal about who I am and who I am not. I held jobs and moved through things that ran the gamut in terms of an array of colorful extremities. From my first serious job in worker's comp insurance as claims processor and medical examiner to my current business in the healing arts and everything inbetween. This included certifying as a make up artist and working as a guest artist for department store cosmetic lines, head hostess at a high-end Italian restaurant, loss control department secretary in worker's comp insurance, received a medical billing license, administrative assistant/receptionist at an investment firm, small time modeling jobs and promotional modeling, school portrait photographer's assistant working with kids from kindergarten through high school and running my own custom art business doing commissioned paintings and murals, which I developed my website and plan for while at my very last office job. I became interested in many things including a time period of extreme health focus where body building and training with a personal trainer became important to strengthen my body while working on developing my mind. Nothing seemed completely satisfying and life continued to feel superficial. So I moved to Sedona, AZ in 1997 and started a new life for the next almost 2 years.

There I spent my time utilizing the potent energy of Sedona to delve into some major self exploration and healing, utilizing many modalities such as astrology and numerology along with reading a lot of spiritual, self-growth and metaphysical books. It was a challenging time and I walked away from my past in order to do so. It was at this time that art re-entered my life and I painted my first paintings on canvas ever, creating painting after painting. Even though I'd been drawing all my life and always excelled with it, I'd never actually painted on canvas until age 24. Images and inspiration flowed and it became apparent that being an artist was not just a hobby, but a gift and naturally a part of who I was at the core of my being.

After my time in Sedona, I returned to California to start anew, still searching and unsure of where to put my efforts. It's an odd thing, seemingly a gift and a curse, to have both an analytical and mental mind paired with a very intuitive and creative mind. It made it easy for me to follow different paths of work, but the key was in finding what my true path was and a way to blend my qualities into something that was authentic and not one-sided. Otherwise, I'd burn out and the other parts of me would feel neglected and repressed, causing great stress and frustration.

Life became more and more discouraging and inbetween I started some traveling a little on my own. My family had always traveled when I was younger and it was in my blood as an adventurer and explorer at heart. This also marked a dietary change for me and led me to yoga, as I continued to evolve and embrace more of my authentic self. My body slowly started to react to animal products and I began a journey that would take me to different levels of experience through conscious food choices, ultimately that would help raise my vibration and bring greater clarity of experience. It was a natural progression from pescetarian, to vegetarian, to vegan and now vegan raw foodist. I have been vegan since 2005 and raw since 2008. I believe it's important to find a balance that works for each individual and sometimes I will vary the percentage of cooked vegan and raw vegan that I intake depending on different variables. So I will go back and forth between 85-100% raw.

My personal life went down many winding roads during my life, which helped me to learn a great deal about myself including marriage and divorce, moving to the Seattle area in WA and later to Lake Tahoe, NV. Much transformation took place over these years including major travel experiences and journeys across the globe, spiritual and empowering growth, major life, health and dietary changes, highs and lows, the start of the In Lak'ech series, an array of opportunities and expansion including the unfolding process of my symbolic tattoo art and my training and work as a Reiki Master Teacher.

As a Reiki Master Teacher, Universal Life Force Energy resonates also in the art I create and is imbued in every stroke of my brush. My company, Emerald Bridge, is an embodiment of my love shared through supportive services and healing creations that help to plant seeds of joy, freedom and inspired direction. Through committed heart service, the desire to embrace unconditional compassion and natural, creative expression, I continually embark on new journeys of creation and healing to share with the world.

My work and commitment to healing on personal and collective levels has taken me to many exotic lands and sacred energy portals across the globe including Egypt, Peru, the Mayan lands, Ireland, England, France, Italy, Athens, Santorini, Thailand, Bimini, Costa Rica, the Hawaiian Islands, Tahiti, Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexico, Canada, and several areas throughout the US. This has provided me once-in-a-lifetime experiences that I carry and embody pieces of in my heart and soul, just as I have left a piece of me in each destination I have visited. To experience diverse cultural backgrounds and to be able to connect and engage with people from all over the world and from all walks of life, experience and beliefs and to explore sacred sites and ancient civilizations, provides a wealth of compassionate understanding, which is a beautiful and valuable gift.

I would describe myself as an avid traveler, vegan raw foodist, explorer of conscious experience, continuous student of life with a great love for our ancient and cosmic mysteries and deeply connected to the Earth and her many precious children. My life is about transforming and shattering the old and the idea of "impossible," realizing that miracles are a reality that I create. When I heal myself and take courageous steps forward that energy is available to everyone and vice versa, which is why I advocate making conscious and responsible choices from a place of service for a higher good. We cannot rescue another. The greatest service that can change the consciousness of all humanity is to be an example of your own life working and being in the love and honor of your authentic self. I question everything that has always been and I don't accept anything until I've thoroughly examined it from the perspective of every level of my being. Just because something is "tried and true", doesn't mean it's right, or at least doesn't mean it's right for me. Just because that's the way it's always been, doesn't mean it has to, or should even continue that way. What I choose to believe and focus on is what I create as my experience. It's not okay to me to find comfort in the continuum of my pains, thus recreating the same experiences over and over.

I maintain a childlike innocence and excitement, always loving to laugh, have fun and be silly, while knowing the importance and timeliness of serious, dedicated focus. I believe in the value of trying to maintain balance and constantly challenge myself to be present with this, as I can be a bit of an extremist. I value walking an integrative, middle path, staying curious, embracing strength in vulnerability and being unconditionally compassionate. I enjoy both my private, sacred time, as well as connecting with and experiencing the world and others. A chameleon by nature, I see myself as a visionary, mystic, dreamer, romantic, gentle warrior and ambassador of peace and love, here to help bridge all separation and to inspire beauty, grace and joy every step of the way. I am blessed with two sweet friends, a Russian Tortoise, Gaia and Lop-Earred Rabbit, Joy that inspire and support me each day.

To View a Compilation of Tania Marie's Work:

Reiki Art Ancient Healing ~ In Lak'ech HD Video by Tania Marie with Music and Video Production by Cyberkaz

(Video can also be viewed on YouTube with HD viewing option)

Tania Marie, Visionary Artist and Reiki Master Teacher is available for commissioned work including paintings, murals and visionary design needs. Alongside her paintings and giclee prints that are available, she also designs original and custom crystal healing pendants.

I can think of nothing that pleases me more than to inspire greatness in everyone and to be inspired by the beauty in and around us all. We each have a song to sing, but together we create a beautiful symphony. Freeing the mind, body, heart and soul. Deconstructing the walls that hinder our expression. Releasing the butterfly from beneath the glass. It's time we learn to fly.

To express and to inspire, to heal and to transform, to expand and to free. These are the reasons I create. Like each individual, creativity is uniquely beautiful in all of its forms. We are perfect in our imperfection.

There are many to whom I am grateful for, in helping to support and nurture the growth in my life. To each of you, I send many blessings and am so touched by the love you've expressed. I feel so honored and blessed to have experienced all the rich ingredients that have made up the recipe of my life. And inbetween all the experiences and creations I still, of course, continue to dream.....

Much Love and Gratitude,
Tania Marie signature