Cover Art

COVER ART Tasha Bowden

Meet Tasha,18 and from Widnes.

How long have you been creating art? I’ve been creating art for as long as I can remember, when I was little, I always loved stealing my mum's nail polish and making pretty designs on a piece of paper. But I think my first piece of “proper” art was when I was around 10, I think. We were watching the discovery channel and I saw an animal. A leopard or a cheetah maybe? And I thought “I want to draw that” so I got my colouring pencils and began to draw them. Looking back now it was probably terrible but I remember creating it and loving it. I knew from then on that I wanted a creative future. How did you first get into it? I first got into art when I was very young, obviously, most kids have crayons and a colour inside the line book that they never stick to but, my mum always used to take me to the nail salon with her. She’d let me pick out a colour and id get my nails and toes both done. I kind of thought in my head “that’s cool, maybe I want to paint peoples nails all the time”. So, for Christmas that year I got so much nail polish and began drawing little doodles with the nail polish. I think my obsession started then. What training do you have? I’m currently studying in my second year at college and I was in art lessons since year seven. I have had really supportive teachers and tutors over the past few years who have helped me gain all the skills I have today. What media/ software do you use? I am a multi-media artist, but for my digital work, I use Procreate on my iPad! If I’m creating physical work, I usually use watercolour, acrylic paint, pen and sometimes charcoal. Where do you get your inspiration? I get inspiration for my pieces from all kinds of artists. I want to capture so many elements of beauty within my work. Within my digital pieces, I want to create a three-dimensional element to my work, to make it feel more alive. I like to focus on portraiture and creating texture within that to normalise the bodies we call home.

With my physical pieces, I love not only creating texture, but I love making my pieces huge and busy and colourful to create this chaotic energy, which I think represents me as a person. My art incorporates so much of who I am. What is the aim of your art? The aim of my art is to show that you don’t have to have one style of art to be successful or enjoy what you do. For the longest time, I was envious that other people had a set style for their work and I didn’t. I thought it didn’t make me a “real artist” I want people to see that art is fun and creative and can be whatever you want it to be, there are no boundaries. Where can people find you on social media? You can find me on social media @tashabowdenart on Instagram or Facebook!