Tara Hengeveld 

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Tara Hengeveld has incorporated the creation of art into her life since childhood. During high school, she was introduced to a wide variety of media including oils, silk screening, jewelry making, and watercolor along with an emphasis on drawing. 

 

These interests took a back seat to her professional life in health care and health care education. Her family become the vessel for creativity with wood and linoleum cuts, fabric designs for sewing and quilting, and  crocheting and knitting. About ten years before retiring, she returned to her paint brushes taking instruction from Marjorie Hamilton Young through the Emerson Umbrella in Concord, MA. The reawakening occurred but didn’t blossom until retirement. 

 

For the last twenty plus years, Tara has worked exclusively in watercolor. After many workshops and the patience of good teachers, she has only begun to appreciate the medium’s many quirks! About six years ago, It was her luck to engage with a group of artists who are generous with suggestions and supportive with critiques. They share a studio in Indian Orchard Mills, Springfield. 

 

Throughout this process, her husband, Michael Benfield, a fine photographer in his own right, has been her rock of strength, as he has been in all of life’s experiences. 

 

Tara hopes her paintings demonstrate the peace she finds in nature and the love she sees around her.

 

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