Welcome to
Dream Topography
Where aerial landscapes and microscopic worlds converge
About
Tara Gillespie (Baltimore County, MD) is a mixed media artist with a passion for contemporary art. In 2018 she started mixing her own acrylic paints and experimenting with resin, amongst other materials, and her practice has evolved since. Her studio is based in Timonium, MD, and she participates in the fine art festival circuit along the East coast.
Tara also reveals her techniques in-person offering fluid and epoxy resin art classes for adults and children. She also offers these classes as an instructor at Manor Mill in Monkton, Maryland. Upcoming shows and classes are announced on this website and on her instagram (@taragill_art) as they are confirmed.
Artist Statement
My work aims to connect our world with the spiritual. In my process I exploit the properties of paint and resin to create ethereal and nature-inspired works that mimic and transcend reality. I call my work “Dream Topography” because I feel my pieces evolve to resemble 3-dimensional maps where the viewer has an aerial view through layers of form in nature including atmosphere, landforms, minerals, water bodies, plant life, and cellular structures. What appears to one observer as a view of the universe may, to another, resemble the hidden worlds revealed beneath a microscope. By capturing both the cosmic and the cellular, my paintings remind us that the vast and the infinitesimally small can evoke the same sense of wonder, and that the same patterns and energy shape galaxies and cells alike. This suggests a deep interconnectedness between all scales of existence.
Description of Material and Technique
My work is created through mixed media processes using acrylic paint, mica powders, alcohol inks, pigments, epoxy resin, organic structural materials, such as balsa wood and rattan, and natural found objects. I work on custom-built wood panels building modular compositions, often constructing custom molds and surfaces that allow the material to flow and react organically. Many of the natural elements incorporated into the work including seashells, palm fronds, and pressed botanicals are personally foraged and collected creating a direct physical connection to the environments that inspire the work. Through repeated layering, sanding, and resin pours each surface develops depth, translucency, texture, and dimensionality. The work is process-driven and rooted in fluid movement, material interaction and shifting scales of perception, resulting in abstract “micro-worlds” that can be interpreted as aerial landscapes, geological formations, microscopic structures, or imagined environments.
Making really great progress on my mini collection that will be in an exhibit @manormillmonkton called “Orbit and Origins.”
Space isn’t empty. It’s made of rock, dust, minerals, chemistry, gravity, and time.
#galaxy #cellular #mixedmedia #microworld
I have an exhibit coming up called “Orbit and Origins” in August, so I’m on the moon today. These will be some of the specialty tiles used amongst the atmospheric tiles. It’s been a minute since I was focused on space, but it’s where I started so it feels like coming home. To be honest, it’s the perfect exhibit for my work as I am always aiming for that aerial perspective that captures both the universe and the cellular world.
#moon #mixedmedia #spaceart #moonsculpture
My Fluid Art class is this Sunday ✨ Come learn the chemistry and flow that defines fluid art, mix your own paints using my recipes, and create two different fluid art pieces using several different techniques.
Sunday, July 19th
4-6pm
Sign up at manor-mill.com/events
@manormillmonkton
Dream Topography in the home. Everything worked out so well here. Pinch me ✨🤩
#ResinArt #InteriorDesign #LuxuryInteriors #StatementArt #ArtCollector
The finishing steps for this large commission! Sanding, framing, and install! Yesterday we hung them in the client’s home and they are gorgeous beyond words. These special pieces were created during a fluid art session with my client and her son. She wanted to create a memory with her son sharing her love of art, and art pieces their family could cherish and pass down. I decided the color palette with the light&dark concept based off of samples from the interior designer. My clients came into the studio to paint the first layer. Then I did 4 layers of resin work including atmospheric clouds and iridescent pigments. This gives each piece the 3-dimensional aerial view that is Dream Topography. As you move around the piece, the pigments illuminate ✨ Given the size of the pieces my partner also built the custom wooden panels and frames which turned out beautifully. I’m super happy with the entire project process and results.
If you want to create your own custom art pieces, I’d love to guide you through the process. ❤️
#customart #artforyourhome #diy #dreamtopography #interiordesign
Manayunk this past weekend in Philadelphia 😊 This is a tiring show because build starts at 6am on the first market day which doesn’t end until 7pm. Luckily the weather was better this year. And the foot traffic was great. Sales unfortunately were meh 🫤 but I did score some free Vietnamese coffee and summer spring rolls. Also sold my 6x32” Caribbean Fragments piece and I brought my new forest themed pieces to show for the first time.
#manayunkartsfestival #hustling #fulltimeartist #supportsmallbiz #artistlife
This past Sunday I taught a sold out beginners resin class at Manor Mill. Here’s my set up and everything I bring. In this class we create three projects - an ornament, a circular coaster, and a 6x6” wooden art piece featuring the Beachwave technique or a spacey nebula.
Here’s my upcoming summer class schedule. All summer classes will be taught through @manormillmonkton because the studio is too hot! Sign up now through the Manor Mill website.
July 19th - Fluid Art Workshop
July 21st - Summer UV Resin Crafts for Kids
August 6th - Beginners Resin Class
August 28th - Floral Trays & Geodes Resin Craft
#baltimorecounty #creative #artclasses #summerfun #crafty
Biking and foraging today for the forest inspired pieces 🌳❤️. I want to focus on wildflowers and ferns. I’m thinking of other materials I can incorporate - maybe tree bark to bring in more textures, maybe mushrooms? In any case I’ll be placing all these in my wooden press today. They need at least a week to dry out.
#wildflowers #natureinspired #forging #creativeprocess #pressedbotanicals
