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.
Here through Sunday ☀️ Booth 2621 @virginiamoca
#mixedmedia #artistlife #artshows #vabeach #art
Harmonic Balance is the 2nd design in my Sacred Topographies Collection. There’s nothing shiny on this one. I like that it’s matte and grounded. Seen here in a forest palette.
#OrganicAbstraction #GeometricAbstraction #NaturalMaterials #DimensionalArt #WoodAndResin
In this studio corner the afternoon sun comes in at 4pm.
My 2nd design for my Sacred Topographies Collection.
It’s titled Harmonious Balance.
Thank you ☺️
#harmonious #woodart #mixedmediaart #art #afternoonsun
Upcoming Fall Classes 🍁🎃🍃 @manormillmonkton
Sunday, 10/18 - Halloween UV Resin Kid’s Crafts Class
Friday, 11/20 - Beginners Resin Craft Class
Thursday, 12/10 - Floral Trays Class
Purchase tickets at www.manor-mill.com
#baltimorecounty #manormillmonkton #monktonmd #artclassesforkids #artclass
I finally made a water sculpture mold! This process involves sculpting the water (I use cheap EasySand, not clay). Taping it off and mixing/pouring resin. Then creating an edge around the resin sculpture you flex off before it’s a hard cure, and mixing/pouring silicon rubber on the resin sculpture to cure solidly. What you lift up is a custom mold you can reuse. I’m currently taking commissions on this contemporary water/beach decor piece. The water can be any color and I can make the sculptures in any size.
#watersculpture #resin #beachdecor #oceanart #creative
Just returned from the Neptune Festival in VA beach. Positives - my new truck bed rack packed perfectly. What used to be two car loads into one! The festival director was organized, communicative, and just lovely to work with. All staff were kind and helpful. You can tell this festival cares about the artists. I also stayed in a super friendly hotel) Negatives - the weather cancelled nearly everything. We lost an entire market day with set up being moved to Friday inside instead of Thursday outside. The art show was moved from the boardwalk to the convention center. This change affected crowds and also buyer’s moods as the festival lost its live music/concerts, food vendors, outdoor activities, and the overall beach fun vibe.
You never know how it’s going to go with these festivals/art shows. It can be a hit or miss and much is out of your control. But I still really enjoy traveling, seeing artist friends at different shows, and the work that goes into everything. So I’ll be back in VA beach in two weeks for the 70th Annual Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art Boardwalk Art Show! Hopefully this one doesn’t get rained out. 🤞
#artistlife #artshow #neptunefestival #virginiabeach #art
Introducing Sacred Topographies 🌊✨🪵
I’ve been quietly working on my woodworking skills for a while now, learning how to cut, build, measure, and create these geometric structures completely from scratch. This collection brings these new materials into conversation with the mixed media that has always been at the heart of my work, fluid art and layered resin.
Aside from materials, Dream Topography has always been rooted in interconnectedness, in the patterns that repeat across scales, from cells and microscopic worlds to waterways, landscapes, and the cosmos. With Sacred Topographies, I’m exploring that idea through geometry: placing the unpredictable, organic movement of paint and resin within structures built from repetition, symmetry, connection, and line. I love the idea that beneath what initially appears random, there are patterns connecting everything.
This is the beginning of Sacred Topographies, and I’m really excited to see where it goes.
#SacredTopographies #DreamTopography #MixedMediaArt #geometricdesign #contemporaryart
Calling all lovers of flowers 🌺❤️ Check out some of these beautiful student projects from today’s resin tray class! In this class we had 3 students who made their trays even more personal by bringing in their own dried flowers, a pet picture, and coins! I love all the different designs. 😍 @manormillmonkton
#resinclass #resintray #artclass #driedflowers
