Tamara Carter
Tamara Carter, a vivacious and creative spiritual being, has always been known to those around her as a big dreamer ahead of her time. She grew up on the Southside of Chicago, where she doodled her way through childhood, dreaming of one day becoming an artist.
In the wake of the unthinkable—her father dying when she was just eleven—that dream landed on the proverbial shelf for a much later time. Her mother’s monumental task of running the household and ensuring her three children attended college, prompted stern guidance away from such artistry notions. Such prompting led Tamara to a career as a pharmacist, instead.
In her late twenties, while living in California, a friend bought her a book entitled, Tamara. That book, highlighting a traveling female artist, became Tamara’s personal beacon in her fog of adversities and every day trials. No one could imagine how much her spirit yearned to thrive since the death of her father over a decade ago. It was as if that book gave her permission to unleash dormant creative juices. She immediately paintedttt her first real portrait.
However, once again, reality played its hand. Recovery from an unfortunate car accident along with the demands of single motherhood stole her away from her passion, despite the many compliments and stamps of approval given by family, friends and anyone who saw her artwork. Years later, she would realize these “periods of broken pieces” (her father’s death, her divorce and her serious injuries from the accident), fueled her love for mosaic creations.
The year 2010 and life in New Orleans, marked the true start of her art career. She began filling her calendar with professional art classes—locally and across the nation. She engaged in mosaic fusing, soldering, beading, oil and acrylic painting, as well as her two favorite forms of art thus far, stained glass and custom-made jewelry (which she refers to as her wearable art).
Tamara’s artwork juxtaposes her philosophy that angels bring life and preserve life; therefore, life is all about the angels. She has created a magnificent collection of angels. One of her favorites is a huge mosaic portrait of a black angel comprised of colorfully painted glass pieces.
Tamara believes assembling broken pieces in her art is equivalent to gathering up the broken pieces in one’s life. Making something beautiful out of them is essential in celebrating what someone lost and highlighting what they gained.
Today, where she currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada, Tamara’s artwork can be seen throughout the city in places such as a library, restaurant, office building, community cultural center and a gallery. When not at home creating new artwork for display, she is engaging in her second love: traveling. In fact, it was during one of her trips abroad Tamara was inspired to design stylish, collapsible jewelry that simplifies traveling and allows for multiple interchangeable accessories.
Whether here in the U.S., or abroad, Tamara never misses an opportunity to turn a stranger into an instant friend. Therefore, through the talent of fellow artists around the world, it is her goal to improve people’s lives everywhere through the art of giving back. She wishes to accomplish this by using artwork as the connector between life’s angels and their assigned juweels (African word for jewels)—precious gems being saved from life’s storms.