by Julie ClayIt’s not uncommon to hear musicwafting out of artist Tammra Sigler’sNaples studio. It’s also a sure sign thatshe’s having a creative moment. Sheremembers when the music took over,“I have always painted to music in thebackground, but this time I foundmyself actually painting the music,painting what I heard.” She recalls earlyon wanting to use the dirtiest music shecould think of, which at the time wasLou Reed.

“He’s so without borders anduncensored. I put on the music, thendrew everything I heard.” Shecontinues, “I would listen to one song

on a loop and let it generate the print.When the print was done then I wouldmove to the next song/painting. AfterLou Reed, I moved on to LaurieAnderson. The next year I painted toPhilip Glass, inspired by the ballet that Ihad seen at the Phil, ‘In the UpperRoom.’ There were nine dances in theTwyla Tharp ballet and I made nineprints, four of which were selected lastyear for the Florida Contemporaryexhibit at Artis-Naples.” She’s alsocompleted a music series of Yo Yo Maperforming Bach’s “UnaccompaniedCello”, which is available on note cardsin the Artis-Naples gift shop.

www.ftmyersmagazine.com 23 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2016 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2016 22 www.ftmyersmagazine.com

Tammra Siglerart &

music

LOU REED

Tammra’s skill and talents are theproduct of many years’ experience.Working as a professional artist andteacher for the better part of 50years, her career began in herhometown of Baltimore, Maryland,where Tammra earned her BFA withhonors in painting at the MarylandInstitute College of Art after attendingSyracuse University’s School of FineArts in New York State. Her work wasnoticed in a show not long aftergraduating by one of Baltimore’s topgalleries, and her career has taken offever since.

Tammra humbly admits that she wasvery lucky, but it has to be more thanluck to have your work featured inpermanent collections in museumssuch as the National Women in theArts Museum in Washington, DC andBaltimore Museum of Art, as well asnumerous private and corporatecollections around the world. Herworks have been featured inexhibitions at many Naples studios,including The von Liebig Art Center,where she teaches classes inexpressionistic painting.

And now there are hives. As in

beehives, Tammra’s latest artisticexploration. “I consider myself a ‘markmaker’ when I draw,” she admits. “Ibecame interested in how many smallparticles can make up a whole.” Shetook an interest in the massive andchanging forms birds make when theyfly. ‘Swarms and Swamps,’ Tammra’sfirst Florida painting (featured in theAlliance exhibition) is her exploration ofthat concept. She adds, “It is probablymy first painting that actually deals withFlorida imagery, per se.” The swarmsgrew into hives and a new direction forher paintings. She found these hivesrepresented in the news as well.

“I was watching the horrible thing inSan Bernardino. The policemen werehuddled, making their own ‘hive.’ shenotes, adding, “I’m sure there’s no oneelse in the world thinking like that! Ithink and see abstractly.”

Tammra recalls, “When I was astudent of 18 or 19 I’d go to the paintstore for new tubes of paint. I’d buy thethree colors that I needed. Then Iwould ask myself, ‘What is the mostobnoxious color you see here?’ And I’dbuy it and make it work.”

Another source of inspiration are the

quotes Tammra collects and posts onthe wall in her studio. She explains,“Because I teach I share them a lot withmy students. One of them that reallydescribes my attitude is from the actor,Christopher Walken, ‘First I figure outwhat I have to do; then I do theopposite.’ I think I’ve been doing thatmy whole painting life.”

Her studio lessons are a bit out ofthe ordinary as well. Tammraacknowledges, “Come by my classeswhen the garage door is open, sixeasels are set up, music is blasting, andmy model is dancing out in the backdriveway!” Now there’s a picture... •

Her newest exhibit, running January8-30 at Alliance for the Arts in FortMyers, showcases Tammra’s musicalinspiration in very contemporaryabstract works. Included are the pieces‘I Will Wait – Mumford and Sons’ and acouple inspired by the band Fun., ‘Weare Young – Fun’ and ‘Out on theTown – Fun.”

With over 50 years of artisticexperience, the showcase is, asTammra puts it, quite the eclecticcollection. “This show ranges from2007’s flower series to my newest workof 2015, which actually incorporatestorn paper, she says. “I typically paintin series, and I have different thingsgoing on in my work. The workchanges but my mark stays the same.What you get visually is different,”adding that her latest worksincorporate the use of Sharpies,ushering in a change in attitude.

“There’s quite a range from workmore accessible and recognizable topieces that are totally abstract. In mymusic series, I paint what I hear. In theflower series, I paint what I see. It gives

you kind of 180 degrees of the visualexperience. The energy or enthusiasmfor my materials stays the same.”Tammra’s latest venture, featured in herexhibition at the Alliance, is three-dimensional, where she’s drawn orprinted on paper, then torn it up andrecreated it into a paper sculpture.

A good number of Ms. Sigler’s worksare monotype/drawings utilizing theaforementioned paper, a high qualityarchival cotton that is soft enough tobe flexible and weighted, almost like atowel. This technique involves thecollaboration of a printmaker who ispresent and ready to transfer herpaintings as soon as they’re complete.This way the oil paints that she useswill transfer successfully before theystart to dry.

“I do my prints in Baltimore atTowson University. These aremonotypes, which are one of a kindsingular prints.” She explains, “I workon a plexi plate, and paint with oilsdirectly on it. I tell the printmaker I’mready, and she prepares the paperwith water. It’s gorgeous heavy cotton

paper. She soaks it in a tub, then driesit with towels and a rolling pin to justdamp. Then she takes my plate andsets it on the press bed, very carefullysetting the now very flexible paperover the plate. She then covers it withfelt blankets and turns the wheel,sending the bed under the pressrollers. It comes out the other sideand the image from the plate ispressed into the paper. Now the painthas been transferred. This is alsocalled a monoprint.”

Some of Tammra’s works are theresult of what is known as ‘ghostprints,’ or the second or third printfrom an original plate.

Another important factor in thisprocess is the printmaker’s personality.Tammra describes her collaborationwith the printmaker as one where thatperson really has to set aside theirpersonal taste in order to share andsupport her vision, adding that a goodprinter has to have a certainselflessness. Most of the worksfeatured in January’s exhibition werecreated using this technique.

Inspiration alsocomes from within.Tammra recalls, “I wasdriving to the pressand deciding what Iwas going to print. Inever know what I’mgoing to do until Iface the paper. Thefirst thing I askedmyself was, ‘What isthe essential quality ofmy prints?’ The printsare very clean andpristine. My work isvery organic, but theprinting and finalstatement are preciseand clean.”

www.ftmyersmagazine.com 25 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2016 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2016 24 www.ftmyersmagazine.com

“In my music series, I paint what I hear. In the flower series, I paint what I see.”

“I have always paintedto music in the background, but this time I found myself actually painting the music,

painting what I heard.”

ANNIE LENNOXYO YO MA

LAURIE ANDERSONPHILIP GLASS